Physicist Wolfgang K.H. Panofsky, director emeritus of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), died of a heart attack on Monday in his Los Altos home at the age of 88.

Also known as “Pief,” Panofsky oversaw the construction of SLAC that began in 1961 and served as the center’s founding director until his retirement in 1984. The former physics professor also worked as a particle physics researcher and machine builder and served on the President’s Science Advisory Committee during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations. In addition, Panofsky chaired the National Academy of Sciences’ Committee on International Security and Arms Control from 1985 to 1993 and was president of the American Physical Society in 1974.

Born in Berlin in 1919, Panofsky earned degrees from Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology before working as a staff physicist at the University of California-Berkeley. He joined the Stanford physics department in 1951.

Among other honors, Panofsky received the National Medal of Science in 1969 and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Enrico Fermi Award in 1979. His memoir, “Panofsky on Physics, Politics, and Peace: Pief Remembers,” will be released next week.

“The world has lost a truly great man,” said Persis Drell, acting director of SLAC, in a Stanford News Service release. “Pief’s impact on particle physics was enormous, but, in addition, everyone will remember him for his unflinching integrity, personal warmth and desire to fight for the principles he believed in.”

Panofsky is survived by his wife, Adele, and five children: Richard, Margaret, Edward, Carol and Steven. Plans for a memorial service are pending.