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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as Subject

Robert Willis Hellwarth

Photo

Dates

December 10, 1930 – January 20, 2021

Authorized Form of Name

Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-

Additional Forms of Names

Hellwarth, Robert Willis

Biography

Abstract

Robert Willis Hellwarth was the George Pfleger Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics at the University of Southern California (1970-present). Other institutional affiliations included Hughes Research Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology. His research interests included quantum electronics and the Raman Effect.

Important Dates

December 10, 1930Birth, Ann Arbor (Mich.).

1952Obtained BSE, Princeton University, Princeton (N.J.).

1955Obtained DPhil in Physics, Oxford University, Oxford (England).

1955 – 1965Lecturer, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1955 – 1970Member, Technical Staff (1955-1965); Senior Staff Physicist (1965-1970); and Manager, Theoretical Studies Department (1968-1970), Hughes Research Laboratories, Malibu (Calif.).

1966 – 1970Senior Research Fellow, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1970 – presentGeorge Pfleger Professor of Electrical Engineering and Physics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Calif.).

1986Member, National Academy of Sciences.

January 20, 2021Death, Santa Monica (Calif.).

Occupation

Quantum physicist.

Places

Birth

Ann Arbor (Mich.)

Undergraduate Education

Princeton (N.J.)

Graduate Education

Oxford (England)

Employment

Pasadena (Calif.)

Malibu (Calif.)

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Death

Santa Monica (Calif.)

Subjects

Lasers.

Nonlinear optics.

Photonics.

Quantum electronics.

Quantum theory.

Raman effect.

Relationships

People

Colleagues

Adelberger, Eric G.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bahcall, John N.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bardeen, James Maxwell, 1939-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Boehm, Felix

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bowman, J. D. (J. David)

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Brown, Harold, 1927-2019

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Cole, Julian D.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Dashen, Roger F.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Fowler, William A.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gell-Mann, Murray

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Gould, Roy W. (Roy Walter), 1927-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kryder, Mark H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Leighton, Robert B.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

McKee, Christopher, 1942-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Oddone, Piermaria J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Sciulli, Frank J.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Spitzer, Frank, 1926-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Thorne, Kip S.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tollestrup, Alvin

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Trilling, George H.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Tsuei, Chang C.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Wilson, Robert Woodrow, 1936-

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Zweig, George

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Additional

Maiman, Theodore H.

McClung, Fred J.

Smith, George Foster, 1922-

Institutions

Major Positions

California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

Lecturer and Senior Research Fellow.

HRL Laboratories

Member, Technical Staff; Senior Staff Physicist; and Manager.

University of Southern California. Department of Electrical Engineering

George Pfleger Professor of Electrical Engineering.

University of Southern California. Department of Physics

Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Obtained BSE (1952).

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics

University of Oxford. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1955).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Correspondence and reports regarding the early history of the laser research program at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, 1962-1972.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Willis Hellwarth, 1983 May 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Willis Hellwarth, 1985 May 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Letter from Arthur Leonard Schawlow concerning Maiman's testimony during the Hellwarth vs Gould patent proceedings and the rejection of one of Maiman's manuscripts on masers by Physical Review Letters; and a copy of Maiman's testimony in which he discusses his work in developing ruby lasers, 1959-1984.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Fred J. McClung, 1985 March 6.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George Foster Smith, 1985 February 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Richard Phillips Feynman, 1966 March 4 to 4 February 1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA