Nancy J. Tighe, Ph.D.

Our beloved sister, Dr. Nancy Jean Tighe passed away peacefully May 22, 2012 in East Lansing, Michigan (at Timber Ridge) after a long struggle with diabetes and strokes.

She was born February 7, 1930 to Edmund and Mary Ellen (Higgins) Tighe in Chicago, Illinois.  She grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, graduated with a B.S.  from the College of St. Teresa in Minnesota and earned a PH.D. in metallurgy at the University of London in 1973.

In her  30 year career she was  one of the early and few female scientists at the Federal Bureau of Standards (Dept. of Commerce).  She made  significant, published contributions to the field of  electron microscopy and ceramics.

She received awards and commendations for meritorious service from the U.S. Dept.of Commerce.  Her professional career included guest stays in Japanese and Chinese research laboratories where she made lifelong friends.

In retirement she moved to Palm Coast, Florida.  She was extremely generous to the needy and especially devoted to the humane treatment of animals.  She volunteered at Fort Matanza.  Nancy  enjoyed kayaking, her cats, her family cottage in Whitehall, Mi., and traveling in her RVs.

Nancy was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings, Maryellen Moore and Neil Tighe.

She is survived by her sister Shirley Tighe Frank (and Rafael Frank) and many nieces and nephews.

She touched many lives.

A private memorial will be held in August at the Tighe family cottage. Memorial contributions may be made to the Capital Area Humane Society.

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2 Messages to “Nancy J. Tighe, Ph.D.

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Sheldon Wiederhorn
August 20, 2012 at 1:54 pm

I worked with Nancy at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) for over 20 years. She was one of the leading electron microscopists at NBS during her stay. She was highly respected and always very congenial, easy to talk to and ready to share her ideas and thoughts with others. I felt sad when she decided to retire, but could not talk her out of it. I saw her now and then when she retired to Florida, but it was not the same as having her at NBS. I enjoyed her company at NBS and shall miss her now that she is gone.

Sheldon Wiederhorn

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Hira Fotedar
October 16, 2018 at 1:24 pm

I met Nancy at Imperial College where I was working as. Post Doctoral Fellow. She was very helpful to me in using One million volt electron microscope. She was a brilliant scientist. She had a dream of completing her PHD which she did at the age of 43. She never gave up.

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