He was a retired professor of physics and had been on the faculty of Yale, Duke and Purdue universities before finishing his long career at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he was instrumental in helping establish scientific ties between the United States and China.

Survivors include his wife, Jane Land Fowler; a daughter, Marjorie Fowler Kachergis of Pittsboro; a son, Walter Earle Fowler of Chapel Hill; and a brother, Bill Fowler of St. Charles, Ill.

A memorial service will conducted March 5 at 4 p.m. at the Assembly Hall in the Carol Woods Retirement Community in Chapel Hill.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Triangle Land Conservancy, 1101 Haynes St., Suite 205, Raleigh, N.C. 27604, or to a charity of choice.

Arrangements are by the Cremation Society of the Carolinas.