Physics History Network
Over 1000 biographies of physicists and histories of institutions with information pertaining to their lives, careers, and research.
Tip: Search within this page by using Ctrl + F or ⌘ + F
Search Our Catalogs
Archives BooksCollections
Emilio Segré Visual Archives Digital Collections Oral Histories Archival Finding Aids Physics History Network Member Society Portals Ethical Cataloging StatementPreservation and Support
Donating Materials Suggest a Book Purchase Saving Archival Collections Grants to Archives Documentation Projects History NewslettersCenter for History of Physics
Scholarship & OutreachMain Navigation
HomeAboutTopic GuidesFeedbackTable of Contents
Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectWilliam Shockley
Dates
February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989
Authorized Form of Name
Shockley, William, 1910-1989
Additional Forms of Names
Shockley, William Bradford, 1910-1989
Biography
Abstract
William Shockley was Alexander M. Poniatoff Professor of Engineering Science at Stanford University (1963-1974). Other institutional affiliations include Bell Laboratories, Beckman Instruments, Inc., Shockley Transistor Corporation, and Clevite Corporation. He research was in solid-state physics and semiconductors. In 1956, Shockley, together with Walter Brattain and John Bardeen, won the Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of transistors.
Important Dates
February 13, 1910Birth, London (England).
1932Obtained BS, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1936Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).
1936 – 1954Member, Technical Staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).
1942 – 1944Director of Research, Antisubmarine Warfare Operations Research Group, United States Navy.
1944 – 1945Expert Consultant to the Secretary of War, United States Department of War.
1946Lecturer in Physics, Princeton University.
1951Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1951 – 1989Member, Science Advisory Panel, United States Army.
1953Awarded Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, American Physical Society.
1954Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology.
1954 – 1955Director of Research, Weapons Systems Evaluation Group, United States Department of Defense.
1955 – 1958Research Physicist, Beckman Instruments, Inc.
1956Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and Walter Brattain "for their researches on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect".
1958 – 1960President, Shockley Transistor Corporation.
1960 – 1963Director, Transistor Division, Clevite Corporation.
1963 – 1975Executive Consultant, Bell Telephone Laboratories.
1963 – 1989Alexander M. Poniatoff Professor of Engineering Science (1963-1974) and Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering (1974-1989), Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).
August 12, 1989Death, Stanford (Calif.).
Occupation
Electrical engineer.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Shockley, Emmy Lanning
Second wife. Married 1955.
Shockley, Jean Alberta Bailey
First wife. Married 1933-1955.
Shockley, May Bradford, 1879-1977
Mother.
Shockley, W. H., 1855-1925
Father.
Advisors & Collaborators
Shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with Walter Brattain for their research on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect and both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987
Shared the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen for their research on semiconductors and their discovery of the transistor effect and both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Conwell, Esther M. (Esther Marley), 1922-2014
Advised by Shockley at Bell Telephone Laboratories and both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976
PhD advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "Calculation of Electron Wave Functions in Sodium Chloride Crystals".
Colleagues
Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Stanford University.
Bode, Hendrik W. (Hendrik Wade), 1905-1982
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Stanford University.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Herring, William Conyers, 1914-
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories and Stanford University.
Kraichnan, Robert H., 1928-2008
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories and Stanford University.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Stanford University.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982
Both employed at Stanford University.
Thomas, D. G. (David Gilbert), 1928-
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Additional
Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-
Instructor of a summer class Shockley took at Stanford University.
Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975
Hoddeson, Lillian
Holden, Alan
Holonyak, Nick, 1928-
Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-
Johnson, Vivian A. (Vivian Annabelle), 1912-
Kelly, Harry C.
Kelly, Katherine Milsted
Kip, Arthur F.
Leverenz, Humboldt W.
Millman, S. (Sidney), 1904-2006
Morgan, Stanley Owen, 1900-
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Nix, Foster Cary, 1905-
Ohl, Russell S.
Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994
Pierce, John R. (John Robinson), 1910-2002
Riordan, Michael, 1946-
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Varney, Robert N.
White, Addison Hughson, 1909-
Wooldridge, Dean E.
Institutions
Major Positions
Beckman Instruments, inc.
Research Physicist.
Member, Technical Staff and Executive Consultant.
Princeton University. Department of Physics
Lecturer in Physics.
Stanford University. Department of Electrical Engineering
Alexander M. Poniatoff Professor of Engineering Sciences and Emeritus Professor of Electrical Engineering.
United States. Department of Defense. Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
Director of Research.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Received 1953 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize.
California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy
Obtained BSc (1932). Visiting Professor.
Columbia University. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Obtained PhD (1936).
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
United States. Army
Member, Science Advisory Panel.
United States. National Bureau of Standards
United States. Navy
Director of Research, Antisubmarine Warfare Operations Research Group.
United States. War Department
Expert Consultant to the Secretary of War.
University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Physics
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Bell Telephone Laboratories the physics of transistors and semiconductors, 1953.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Dennis Gabor correspondence, 1961-1969.
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
Dept. 3924, 1000 E. University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Interview with the transistor's inventors [motion picture] / produced by Bell Telephone Laboratories.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Isabel Steiner Karkau collection on William Shockley and eugenics, 1966-1973.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Michael Riordan's research materials for "Crystal Fire," 1900-2009.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Nobel laureates on scientific research project : oral history, 1964.
Oral History Research Office
Columbia University
Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA
Oral history interview with William Bradford Shockley, 1976.
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA
Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Reminiscences of William Bradford Shockley : oral history, 1964.
Oral History Research Office
Columbia University
Box 20, Room 801 Butler Library, New York, NY 10027, USA
The invention of the transistor [sound recording] edited by Richard A. Rikoski.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William E. Spicer collection on William Shockley and eugenics, 1965-1970.
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305, USA
William Shockley papers, 1860-1988 (bulk 1940-1988).
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Stanford University
Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Subject
American Physical Society Division of Solid State Physics records of Roman Smoluchowski, 1943-1947.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
AT&T Archives and History Center records, 1869- present.
AT&T Archives and History Center
5 Reinman Road, Warren, NJ 07060, USA
David W. Diffenderfer recollections of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, 2002.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Hans Thacher Clarke papers, circa 1903-1973.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
J. H. Van Vleck papers, 1853-1981 (1920-1980).
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
John Clarke Slater papers, 1908-1976.
Library.
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Lillian Hoddeson addition to papers, 1913-2006.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview Addison Hughson White, 1976 September 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Alan Holden, 1974 July 30 and 1976 June 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Arthur Frederic Kip, 1982 June 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Charles H. Townes, 1979 June 18 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Dean E. Wooldridge, 1976 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Edward N. Clarke, 2010 September 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Esther Conwell, 2007 January 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Esther M. Conwell, 1983 March 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Foster Cary Nix, 1975 June 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1981 January 26, 27, March 24 and 1982 March 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frederick Seitz, 1982 October 6 and 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Gerald Leondus Pearson, 1976 August 23 and 8 April 1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Harry C. Kelly, 1975 October 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Humboldt Walter Leverenz, 1979 July 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with James Brown Fisk, 1976 June 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Bardeen, 1980 February 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Clarke Slater, 1970 February 23 and August 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John Robinson Pierce, 1979 April 16-27.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Katharine Milsted Kelly, 1976 July 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Leon H. Fisher and Robert N. Varney, 2008 July 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Linus Carl Pauling, 1964 March 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Nick Holonyak Jr., 1993 June 22.
IEEE History Center
Rutgers University
39 Union Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA
Oral history interview with P. W. Anderson [videorecording] : 1999-2002.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with P. W. Anderson, 1988 May 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Philip Anderson, 1999 March 30, May 30, November 23 and June 29, 2000.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ralph Bray, 1982 May 14.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Gibney 1978 January 11.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Russell S. Ohl, 1976 August 19 and 20.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Sidney Millman, 1974 August 2, September 13 and 1975 August 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Stanley Owen Morgan, 1975 July 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Vivian Annabelle Johnson, 1981 July 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Walter H. Brattain, 1964 January and 28 May 1974.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William Conyers Herring, 1974 July 23, 29, and 31 October.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William Conyers Herring, 2000 August 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Phillip M. Morse autobiographical data, circa 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Rockefeller University, President Detlev W. Bronk records, 1897-1976.
Rockefeller Archive Center
15 Dayton Ave., Pocantico Hills, North Tarrytown, NY 10591-1598, USA
The Princeton years and beyond, 1930-1940: Invited paper for the March 1992 meeting of the American Physical Society, 1992.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Transistorized! [videorecording] / co-production of ScienCentral and Twin Cities Public Television; producer, Gino Del Guercio; executive producer and narrator, Ira Flatow, 1998.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Transistorized! voice clips [sound recording], 1964-1977.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Electrons and holes in semiconductors : with applications to transistor electronics.
Mechanics / William Shockley, Walter A. Gong.
The quantum physics of solids, I : the energies of electrons in crystals.
Subject
"William Bradford Shockley: 1910-1989", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences.