The UAB is sad to announce the death of Professor Manuel García
Manuel García Doncel, professor emeritus of the UAB and member of the IFAE, died on 26 January 2025. The UAB wishes to extend its most heartfelt condolences to his family and friends, and to all those who knew and loved him, and express its sadness for having lost a member of its community.
Manuel Garcia Doncel was born in Santander in 1930. After moving to Barcelona (1942) and joining the Society of Jesus (1949), he graduated in Philosophy (1956) and in Theology (1962) from the University of Innsbruck, Austria. He earned his PhD in Physical Science (1967) from the University of Barcelona, with a thesis on the internal symmetries of elemental particles. He was visiting professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques de Bures-sur-Yvette in Paris, and at the CERN in Geneva.
It was at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona that Professor Garcia developed an important part of his academic career. He was associated lecturer (1975) and chair professor (1983) of Theoretical Physics, and founded the Centre for Studies in the History of Science (CEHIC, 1995), where he coordinated an interuniversity PhD programme. He was also member of the Institute for High Energy Physics (IFAE), a fundamental physics research centre of which the UAB is member.
He became professor emeritus of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2001) and of the Institute of Fundamental Theology of the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia, where he directed a seminar on theology and science. He was the author of some 350 papers on theoretical physics, the history of science, epistemology, theology and science.
He was also member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona, a membership he held since 1998.
The funeral will take place on Tuesday 28 January at 3:30 p.m. in the Jesuit's Centre Borja of Sant Cugat.