Former Penn State physicist, professor, author and avid photography buff Heinz K. Henisch passed away last Tuesday morning from a heart attack and stroke at age 83.

For much of his 30-year tenure at Penn State, Henisch was the associate director of the Materials Research Lab, working primarily with gel-based semiconductors, Roger Herman, former professor of physics, said.

As a physicist, Henisch was "the type that came across as brilliant," said former colleague Reinhard Graetzer.

"He had a great deal of information at his fingertips and knew how to communicate it," Graetzer said.

Henisch retired from Penn State in 1993, having served as a professor emeritus of physics and a research professor emeritus of the history of photography.

He published 11 books on both physics and photography, including an acclaimed trilogy on the history of photography through the Penn State Press, his wife Bridget Henisch said.

Henisch and his wife Bridget's photography collection is permanently on display in room 201A at the Pattee Library.

"He was a man of many interests, and he pursued them deeply," Bridget Henisch said. "[His goal] was to be someone of honor and integrity. He was a warm and loving person."

Henisch was raised in the Sudetenland in former Czechoslovakia before moving to England in 1938 as World War II approached.

While working in the physics department at University of Reading, he met Bridget, who worked in the English department.

The couple married in 1960 and moved to the United States three years later, after Henisch had taken a job at Penn State.

Natalya Lakhtakia (senior-psychology), whose father, Akhlesh, is a distinguished engineering science and mechanics professor at Penn State, grew up knowing Henisch her entire life.

The Henisches were her family's closest friends, she said.

"This is something that's very unfortunate for the entire community, and he's definitely going to be missed," she said.

Lakhtakia often discussed a mutual love of photography with Henisch, who she said could almost always be seen with a camera nearby.

Often, Henisch would take day trips with his wife to photograph wildlife in the area.

In the basement of their home, 346 Hillcrest Ave., the couple maintained what they called the Carnation Gallery, consisting of photographic material or "anything which took our fancy," Bridget Henisch said. There are different exhibits every few months that are open to friends of the couple.

Henisch had only recently begun using digital photography within the last nine months. The most recent exhibit in the Carnation Gallery displays the results of his digital work.

A reception will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Thursday at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton St.