John W. Coleman, of Beverly, a retired MIT research physicist, died Jan. 22. He was 77.
Coleman worked at MIT for 20 years and in later years was science director of Solar Now Inc. He also worked at RCA for many years.
He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Pennsylvania.
Coleman is survived by two daughters, Melissa Birtwell of Beverly and Crystal Coleman of Seattle, Wash.
Donations may be made to Solar Now Inc., 100 Sohier Road, Beverly High School, Beverly, MA 01915, or to the homeless shelter Riverhouse Inc., 56 River St., Beverly, MA 01915.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 1, 2006 (download PDF).