Leon N. Cooper

Biography

Abstract

Leon Cooper is Director of Brown University's Institute for Brain and Neural Systems and a Nobel Prize laureate. While working with John Bardeen and John Robert Schrieffer, he helped develop the BCS theory of superconductivity. His other institutional relations include Columbia University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the Institute for Advanced Study.

Important Dates

February 28, 1930Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1951Obtained AB, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1953Obtained AM, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1954Obtained PhD in Physics, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1954 – 1955National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study.

1955 – 1957Research Associate, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

1957 – 1958Assistant Professor of Physics, Ohio State University.

1958 – presentAssociate Professor to Professor (1958-1966); Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor (1966-1974); and Thomas J. Watson Senior Professor of Science (1974-present), Brown University, Providence (R.I.).

1972Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and John Schrieffer "for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory".

1975Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1992 – presentDirector, Institute for Brain and Neural Systems, Brown University, Providence (R.I.).

Occupation

Solid state physicist and neural scientist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Graduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Employment

Providence (R.I.)

Subjects

Neurobiology.

Solid state chemistry.

Superconductivity.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Bardeen, John

Shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics along with John Schrieffer for co-developing the BCS theory of superconductivity. Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Schrieffer, J. R. (John Robert), 1931-

Shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics along with John Bardeen for co-developing the BCS theory of superconductivity. Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Serber, R. (Robert)

Ph.D. advisor at Columbia University.

Colleagues

Almy, Gerald Marks, 1904-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Arnowitt, Richard

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Cardona, Manuel, 1934-

Both employed at Brown University.

Charney, Jule G.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Chew, Geoffrey F.

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

DeWitt, Bryce S. (Bryce Seligman), 1923-2004

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Dyson, Freeman J.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Frauenfelder, Hans, 1922-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Jackson, John David, 1925-2016

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kadanoff, Leo P.

Both employed at Brown University.

Kerst, Donald William, 1911-1993

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kinoshita, T. (Toichiro)

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Lazarus, David, 1921-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Lubensky, T. C.

Both employed at Brown University.

Massey, Walter E.

Both employed at Brown University.

Morse, Marston, 1892-1977

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Nagel, Sidney R.

Both employed at Brown University.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Pines, David, 1924-2018

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Read, Nicholas

Both employed at Brown University.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Slichter, Charles P.

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Stiles, Phillip J.

Both employed at Brown University.

Tauc, J. (Jan)

Both employed at Brown University.

Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Weyl, Hermann, 1885-1955

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Wheatley, John Charles

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Yang, Chen Ning, 1922-

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Additional

Schwartz, Brian B., 1938-

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Institutions

Major Positions

Brown University. Department of Physics

Associate Professor to Professor; Henry Ledyard Goddard University Professor; and Thomas J. Watson Senior Professor of Science.

Brown University. Institute for Brain and Neural Systems

Director.

Ohio State University. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor of Physics.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics

Research Associate.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Philosophical Society

American Physical Society

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Obtained A.B. in 1951, A.M. in 1953, and Ph.D. in 1954.

Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)

National Science Foundation (NSF) Postdoctoral Fellow.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Phi Beta Kappa

Resources

Archival Resources

Subject

H. Kamerlingh Onnes Symposium on the origins of applied superconductivity [videorecording] / recorded by the Naval Research Laboratory ; 1986 Oct 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

John Bardeen papers, 1910-1991.

University Archives

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Nobel prize in physics [motion picture] / filmed by Swedish Broadcasting Corporation.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Brian Schwartz, 2001 August 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1981 January 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Robert Schrieffer, 1974 September 26 and 1976 January 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

The history of superconductivity from its discovery by Kammerlingh Onnes in 1911 [sound recording], 2011 March 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

An introduction to the meaning and structure of physics [by] Leon N. Cooper.

BCS : 50 years / edited by Leon N. Cooper, Dmitri Feldman.

Subject

Nobel Prize Biography.