Harry Conrad Dorn was born Aug. 13, 1943 to Leonard Eugene Dorn and Elizabeth Claire Dorn in Mobile, Alabama and passed away Aug. 6, 2026.
The family moved to Riverdale, California in 1946. Harry was the husband to the love of his life, Linda Lee Collins for 62 years. He was the father to Darrell Dorn (Sheri) of Griffin, Georgia, David Dorn of Atlanta, Georgia, Douglas Dorn (Shelia) of Christiansburg, Virginia and Daniel Dorn (Lauren) of Apex, North Carolina. He was grandfather to William Dorn, Eli Dorn, Heath Dorn, Heather Dorn, Zachary Dorn, Jonah Dorn, and Veda Elizabeth Dorn. He was predeceased by his parents and his brothers Lee Dorn and Elwood Dorn. He also leaves many cousins and friends to cherish his memory.
Harry was raised in a rural agricultural town in the central valley of California (Riverdale near Fresno). Harry loved to farm cotton, but he learned from his high school science teacher (Mr. Pielop) that faculty at universities are paid to do research as well as teach. With this guidance, Harry completed academic degrees of a BS and PhD at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, Davis, respectively.
In 1974, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University gave Harry the opportunity to achieve his lifetime goals in research and teaching. He and his wife are members of the Ut Prosim Society at Virginia Tech. Harry taught chemistry at the undergraduate and graduate level at VT for 50 years until 2024. Harry’s research laboratory has discovered over 100 new fullerene, fullertube, and metallofullerene molecules that are reported in over 200 scientific papers in the top scientific journals including Journal of the American Chemical Society, Nature and Science. These new carbon molecules are being explored as new materials for medicine, quantum computers, single molecule magnets, and opto-electronics. During the 1990s with Dean Laynam Chang, Harry helped initiate the nanoscience program at Virginia Tech. During the period 2012-2017, Harry was invited to join the new Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute) and medical school (Radiology Department) in Roanoke, VA and mentored several medical students during this time period. Harry would like to thank all the students, collaborators, and friends that he met and made his career so successful. Harry would also like to especially thank his wife and family for help and forbearance in enabling his love of chemistry.
The following services will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15 in his honor: 10 a.m. – visitation at McCoy Funeral Home (150 Country Club Dr SW, Blacksburg, VA 24060); 11 a.m. – memorial service at McCoy Funeral Home (150 Country Club Dr SW, Blacksburg, VA 24060); 12:30 p.m. – graveside service at Westview Cemetery (723 Roanoke St E, Blacksburg, VA 24060); and 1 p.m. – reception.
