RONA, Mehmet. Age 80, of Cambridge, on Oct. 26, 2019. Mehmet Rona was born on October 18, 1939 in Adana, Turkey, the fourth child of Hikmet and Ziya Rona. His father Ziya, a pharmacist, passed away when Mehmet was 14 years old. Mehmet graduated from Istanbul’s Robert College in 1961. He received a PhD in theoretical physics from Princeton in 1966. Mehmet served as a naval officer in the Turkish Navy. Mehmet married Susan D. Rich (now of Belmont) in Istanbul in 1968, and the couple had two children, Yilmaz Rona (now of Upton) and Ilyas Rona (now of Chestnut Hill). Mehmet was a physics professor and Acting Dean at Middle East Technical University in Ankara and eventually served as Acting President. Due to political unrest, Mehmet and his family emigrated to Belmont MA in 1980. Mehmet joined storied consulting firm Arthur D. Little in Cambridge, MA (which became Tiax LLC in 2002), where he worked until retiring at age 77. In 1989, Mehmet and Susan separated, and Mehmet moved to Cambridge. Mehmet joined the Quaker Friends Meeting at Cambridge, and was an active and devoted member of the Friends community particularly in their prison outreach programs. Mehmet authored several published works on the physics of semiconductors and was the inventor of several patents. His family and friends will miss his humor, wit, curiosity, and persistence in the face of challenges. A memorial service will be held at the Friends Meeting at Cambridge, 5 Longfellow Park, Cambridge, on Saturday, January 25 at 2PM.