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Institutional History
AbstractImportant DatesPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectYale University. Physics Department
Dates
circa 1861 – present
Authorized Form of Name
Yale University. Physics Department
Additional Forms of Names
Yale University. Physics Dept.
Institutional History
Abstract
The Physics Department at Yale University began in the early 1800s as part of the Department of Philosophy and the Arts. Today the department offers studies in a wide range of fields including astrophysics, atomic physics, biophysics, condensed matter physics, nuclear physics, cosmology, quantum optics and gravitational physics.
Important Dates
1861First Doctorate degree is awarded, New Haven (Conn.).
1894 – 1897Arthur Day was on faculty.
1904 – 1908Max Mason was on faculty.
1915 – 1951John Zeleny was on faculty.
1917 – 1948Alan Waterman was on faculty.
1924 – 1927William Swann was on faculty.
1925 – 1928Ernest Lawrence was on faculty.
1926 – 1928Jesse Beams was on faculty.
1939 – 1942Lyman Spitzer was on faculty.
1940 – 1941Elliott Montroll was on faculty.
1943 – 1944Arthur Wightman was on faculty.
1946 – 1947Lyman Spitzer was on faculty.
1947 – 1968Gregory Breit was on faculty.
1954 – 2003Vernon Hughes was on faculty.
1956 – 1957Joel Lebowitz was on faculty.
1957 – presentJack Sandweiss has been on faculty.
1958 – 1959Frank Stillinger was on faculty.
1959 – presentRobert Adair has been on faculty.
1960 – 2005D. Allan Bromley was on faculty.
1962 – 1966John Reppy was on faculty.
1962 – 1974Willis Lamb was on faculty.
1967 – 2009Martin Klein was on faculty.
1970 – 1972Patrick Lee was on faculty.
1972 – 1974Roy Holt was on faculty.
1972 – 1976James Bardeen was on faculty.
1978 – presentFrancesco Iachello has been on faculty.
1985 – 1989Jainendra Jain was on faculty.
1988 – presentNicholas Read has been on faculty.
1995 – presentRichard Casten has been on faculty.
Places
Headquarters
Subjects
Physics -- Study and teaching.
Relationships
People
Employees & Officers
Associate Professor to Professor of Physics; Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics; Sterling Professor of Physics; Emeritus Sterling Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; and Director, Division of Physical Sciences.
Associate Professor of Physics and Professor of Physics.
Beams, Jesse W. (Jesse Wakefield), 1898-1977
National Research Center (NRC) Fellow in Physics and Instructor in Physics.
Professor of Physics and Donner Professor of Physics.
Bromley, D. Allan (David Allan), 1926-2005
Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Director, A. W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory; Associate Director, Heavy Ion Accelerator Laboratory; Henry Ford II Professor of Physics; and Sterling Professor of the Sciences.
Received MS (1964) and PhD (1967). Professor of Physics; D. Allan Bromley Professor of Physics; and Director, A. W. Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory.
Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-
Visiting Professor.
Day, Arthur L. (Arthur Louis), 1869-1960
Obtained BA and PhD (1894). Instructor in Physics.
Visiting Professor.
Professor of Physics and Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics.
Adjunct Professor of Physics.
Professor.
Eugene Higgins Adjunct Professor of Physics and Applied Physics.
Received MPhil (1971) and PhD (Physics) in 1972. Research Staff Physicist.
Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Donner Professor; Sterling Professor of Physics; and Sterling Professor of Physics Emeritus.
Professor of Physics and Josiah Willard Gibbs Professor of Physics.
Research Associate.
Keyworth, George A., II, 1939-
Received BS.
Professor of Physics; Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and History of Science; and Eugene Higgins Professor Emeritus of Physics and History of Science.
Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008
Henry Ford II Professor of Physics and Josiah Willard Gibbs Professor of Physics.
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Received PhD in Physics (1925). National Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Physics.
Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-
J. W. Gibbs Instructor of Physics.
Assistant Professor, Sheffield Scientific School.
Sterling Research Fellow.
Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and Professor of Physics.
Received PhD (1961). Assistant Professor of Physics.
Instructor to Professor of Physics; Department Chair; Donner Professor of Physics; and Consultant, Laboratory for Marine Physics.
Received BA (1935). Instructor in Physics and Associate Professor of Astrophysics.
Swann, W. F. G. (William Francis Gray), 1884-1962
Director, Sloane Laboratory.
Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
Instructor; Assistant Professor of Physics; and Associate Professor of Physics.
Wightman, A. S. (Arthur Strong), 1922-2013
Received BA (1942). Instructor in Physics.
Professor of Physics; Emeritus Professor of Physics; and Lecturer in Physics.
PhD Students
Received MS (1950) and PhD (1953) in Physics.
Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-
Received PhD (1966).
Brown, G. E. (Gerald Edward), 1926-
Received MS (1948) and PhD (1950).
Fairbank, William Martin, 1917-1989
Obtained PhD in Physics (1948).
Received PhD in Physics (1971).
Received PhD in Physics (1926).
Hull, Albert Wallace, 1880-1966
Received AB and PhD in Physics (1909).
Received PhD in Physics (1959).
Received PhD (1961).
Millikan, Clark Blanchard, 1903-1966
Received PhD (1924).
Received MS (1952) and PhD (1954).
Received PhD (1940).
Associates & Members
Allen, Mildred, 1894-1990
Bedell, Frederick, 1868-
Beers, Yardley, 1913-
Benenson, Walter
Bengston, Joel, 1926-
Bennett, William R. (William Ralph), 1904-
Boltwood, Bertram Borden, 1870-1927
Broxon, James William, 1897-
Burton, Joseph Ashby, 1914-1986
Cardman, L. S.
Dadourian, H. M. (Haroutune Mugurditch), 1878-1974
Dana, James Dwight, 1813-1895
De Forest, Lee, 1873-1961
Received BS.
Gould, Gordon, 1920-2005
Hall, John S. (John Scoville), 1908-1991
Hastings, Charles S. (Charles Sheldon), 1849-1932
Howey, Joseph Herman
Jesse, William Polk, 1891-1974
Johnson, John Bertrand
Kolstad, George Andrew, 1919-1996
Kovarik, A. F. (Alois Francis), 1880-1965
Lane, Cecil Taverner, 1904-
National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Fellow.
Libby, Willard F.
Lindsay, Robert Bruce, 1900-
Loomis, Alfred L. (Alfred Lee), 1887-1975
Received AB (1909).
Low, Frank James
Margenau, Henry, 1901-1997
McKeehan, L. W. (Louis Williams), 1887-1975
Morowitz, Harold J.
Page, Leigh, 1884-
Ruark, Arthur Edward, 1899-
Saperstein, Alvin M.
Received BS (1955).
Scully, Marlan O. (Marlan Orvil), 1939-
Setlow, Richard B. (Richard Burton)
Taft, Horace Dwight, 1925-1983
Watson, William W. (William Weldon), 1899-
Wesselink, Adriaan Jan, 1909-1995
Williams, W. L. (William Lee)
Wright, Arthur W. (Arthur Williams), 1836-1915
Zilsel, Paul Rudolph, 1923-
Institutions
Institutional Hierarchy
Yale University
Associates
American Institute of Physics. Center for History of Physics
Participated in the study of multi-institutional collaborations.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Pages from catalogs listing faculty and courses at Yale University, 1900-1940.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Yale University Department of Physics records, circa 1910-1975.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Subject
Alois Francis Kovarik papers, 1902-1951.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Alvin M. Saperstein student notes of lectures given by Gregory Breit, 1952-1954.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Alvin M. Saperstein student notes on lectures by Lars Onsager and Cecil T. Lane, 1952-1953.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Arthur E. Ruark biographical material, 1963.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Arthur Williams Wright papers, 1755-1876.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Bertram B. Boltwood autobiography, circa 1923.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Bertram Borden Boltwood papers, 1890-1932.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
C. T. Lane and low temperature physics at Yale, 1973.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Charles Sheldon Hastings papers, 1869-1930.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Dana family papers, 1805-1961.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Extracts from de Forest autobiographical notes: Books I and II, 1944.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Frederick Bedell papers, 1891-1984.
Carl A. Kroch Library. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University
2B Carl A Kroch Library, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
George Andrew Kolstad response to 1981 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1982.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Gregory Breit papers, 1929-1980 (bulk 1960-1970).
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Henry Margenau papers, 1927-1990.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Horace Dwight Taft papers, 1888-1983.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
John Johnson autobiography, 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
John Zeleny papers, 1897-1951.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Library and Information Center
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA 30332-0900, USA
Leigh Page papers, 1884-1962 (bulk 1884-1953).
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Louis McKeehan autobiography, circa 1970.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Martin J. Klein papers, 1951-2004.
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Mildred Allen papers, 1865-1990.
Archives and Special Collections
Mount Holyoke College
8 Dwight Hall, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA 01075-6425, USA
My Life in Physics: John Schiffer's autobiography.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Natural Science manuscripts collection, 1817-1918 (bulk).
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Oral history interview with Marlan O. Scully, 2004 July 15 and 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Adriaan J. Wesselink, 1977 September 23 and 1978 June 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with D. Allan Bromley, 1986 October 29 and 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with E. W. Montroll, 1983 September 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frank J. Low, 2000 January 25 and May 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Gordon Gould, 1983 April 8 and October 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Harold J. Morowitz, 2005 March 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Haroutune Mugurditch Dadourian, 1964 April 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Henry Margenau, 1964 May 6.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with James Broxon, 1974 September 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Joel Bengston, 1986 July 1.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with John S. Hall, 1979 February 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Joseph A. Burton, 1974 July 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Larry S. Cardman and J. Dirk Walecka, 2013 August 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Lyman Spitzer, 1991 November 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lyman Spitzer, Jr., 1977 April 8 and 1978 May 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Mildred Allen, 1979 June 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Murray Gell-Mann, 1997 July 17 and 18.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Paul Rudolph Zilsel, 1988 March 21 and 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with R. J. Holt, 2013 July 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Richard Setlow, 2005 April 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Bruce Lindsay, 1964 May 6 and July 9.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Willard Frank Libby, 1979 April 12 and 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with William R. Bennett, 1987 October 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: SLAC-E-122, 1989.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Robert Bruce Lindsay collection of annotated drafts of 6 articles written while at Yale University and Brown University, 1930-1961.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Robert Bruce Lindsay intellectual autobiography, 1962-1983, 1985.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Ross Gunn autobiographical notes, circa 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Walter Benenson response to 1988 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1988.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William Lee Williams papers, 1962-1986 (bulk 1967-1986).
Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2113, USA
William P. Jesse scientific autobiography, 1968.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William Weldon Watson papers, 1924-1983.
Manuscripts and Archives
Yale University Library
Box 208240, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
Yardley Beers autobiography, circa 1965.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Doctors of philosophy, 1861-1960.
Historical register of Yale university, 1701-1937.
Historical register of Yale University, 1937-1951.
Subject
Physics doctorates of Yale / Nancy N. Soper, C. Marvin Curtis, D. Allan Bromley.
Yale College : an educational history, 1871-1921.