Willis E. Lamb Jr. was on the faculty of several top universities.

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Physicist and Nobel laureate Willis E. Lamb Jr., who made a career of studying the science of matter and energy and their interactions, died Thursday of complications arising from a gallstone disorder. He was 94.

The University of Arizona professor emeritus joined the physics department in 1974.

He received a 1955 Nobel Prize in physics for his experimental work on the fine structure of the hydrogen atom and for the discovery of a small energy difference, the quantum effect that became known as the Lamb Shift, which revolutionized the quantum theory of matter.

His discovery led physicists to rethink the basic concepts behind the application of quantum theory to electromagnetism.

His work became one of the foundations of quantum electrodynamics, a key aspect of modern elementary particle physics.

"He was a real giant in the field," said James C. Wyant, dean of the UA's College of Optical Sciences.

Though he retired in 2002, Lamb continued working out of his UA office until just a couple of years ago, Wyant said.

"Not that long ago, he told me he finally understood physics," Wyant said.

Lamb was born in Los Angeles and, in 1934, earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.

Lamb's thesis research during graduate studies was directed by J. Robert Oppenheimer, who went on to head the Manhattan Project, which created the atomic bomb.

Lamb was awarded his doctoral degree in 1938 for his dissertation on the electromagnetic properties of nuclear systems.

Lamb was on the faculty of multiple prestigious universities — Columbia, Stanford, Oxford and Yale — before he joined the UA.

In 2000, Lamb was awarded the National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor.

The Medal of Science recognized Lamb's Nobel Prize-winning work as well as his later contributions: his theories of laser radiation and quantum optics and his interpretation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics.

"In many respects, his Nobel Prize and National Medal of Science were more important to others than they were to him," said his wife, Elsie Wattson Lamb, in a press release issued by UA.

"Even after retirement, he remained in the present and forward-looking, concerned that what he was doing should have some value."

Lamb's colleagues found the physicist's work ethic inspiring.

"He's just one of those rare physicists who goes on and on, just keeps exploring throughout his career," UA physicist William A. Wing said in a 2000 Arizona Daily Star article. "He influenced our careers in very profound ways."

In addition to his widow, Lamb is survived by a brother, Perry, who lives in Maine.

Lamb was preceded in death in 1996 by his first wife, distinguished UA historian Ursula Schaefer Lamb.