John McTague, a distinguished scientist who wove together careers as an academic, government science policy adviser and director of an industrial research laboratory and who also played a key role in nurturing junior faculty in UCLA's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, died June 7 at his home in Montecito, Calif. He was 74.
 
McTague, noted for his research on the dynamics of condensed matter, was a professor of chemistry and a member of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at UCLA from 1970 to 1982. His research included the first demonstrations of collision-induced light scattering, of hexatic ordering in two-dimensional systems, and of collective dynamics in monolayer films.
 
A major part of McTague’s research involved synchrotron scattering, and in 1983 he took leave from UCLA to become the first director of the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory. His success in an administrative role led him then to the position of deputy director, then acting director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and, later, acting science adviser to President Ronald Reagan. McTague later worked for the Ford Motor Company and was responsible for research, environment and safety engineering, technical personnel development, plant engineering, and worldwide product and technical planning.
 
After retiring, McTague played key roles in national science policy, serving as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and U.S. chair of the U.S.-Japan High Level Advisory Panel on Science and Technology. In the 1990s, he served as the chairman of the board of overseers of Fermi National Laboratory and as co-chair of the Department of Energy National Laboratories Operations Board.
 
In 1999, McTague received the Glenn T. Seaborg Medal at UCLA for his achievements in academia, government and industry and for significant contributions to chemistry and biochemistry. At that time, he and his family generously endowed two chairs in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry — the Howard R. Reiss and the John P. McTague Career Development Chairs, which enable the department to foster the careers of promising young faculty.
 
In his later years, McTague served as vice president of laboratory management for the University of California Office of the President, and then as a professor emeritus of materials at UC Santa Barbara.
 
McTague grew up in Jersey City, N.J. He received his undergraduate degree with honors in chemistry from Georgetown University in 1960 and his Ph.D. from Brown University in 1964. He and his wife, Carole Frances Reilly, were married 35 years when she died in 1997.
 
McTague is survived by his children Kevin, Catherine, Margaret and Maureen, nine grandchildren and his sister Mary.
 
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The John P. McTague Career Development Chair Endowment in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA. Checks may be made payable to the UCLA Foundation, noting Fund Number 8986 in the check memo line.
 
Donations can be directed to:
 
Kerri Yoder, director of development
Division of Physical Sciences, UCLA College of Letters and Science
1309 Murphy Hall, P.O. Box 951413
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1413
 
You can read the department's full obituary here and an obituary published in the Santa Barbara News-Press here.