In 1998 the Physics Department established the Robert Wilson Lide Laboratory Citations, recognizing the exceptional service of Dr. Lide (1922–1998) in operating the departmental laboratories. Lide was born in Hwanghsien, China, the son of American missionaries. He graduated from high school in China in 1939 and returned to the United States to attend college at Wake Forest. He graduated with a physics degree in 1943 before joining the US Navy, in which he served as an engineering officer during WWII. He then went to the University of Michigan, where he earned his MS and PhD degrees in physics.
Dr. Lide joined the UT Physics Department in 1957 as an assistant professor. For many years he was responsible for the nuclear physics laboratory, but he was best known for running the undergraduate laboratories. Even after he retired in 1991, he continued to come to campus week after week to help set up experiments. His handwritten notes were the basis for the laboratory setup manual by physics teaching assistants. Awarded for the first time at the 1998 honors day celebration, these citations recognize students who have made exceptional contributions to the undergraduate instructional laboratories. Dr. Lide was in attendance at the first ceremony.