Eugene Feenberg

Biography

Abstract

Eugene Feenberg was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Washington University, St. Louis (1946-1977). Other institutional affiliations included New York University and the Institute for Advanced Study. His research interests included quantum mechanics and nuclear shell structure.

Important Dates

October 6, 1906Birth, Fort Smith (Ark.).

1929Obtained BA and MA, University of Texas, Austin, Austin (Tex.).

1933Obtained PhD in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1933 – 1935Instructor in Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge (Mass.).

1935 – 1936Lecturer, Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

1936 – 1938Member, Institute for Advanced Study.

1938 – 1946Assistant Professor of Physics, Washington Square College, New York University, New York (N.Y.).

1942 – 1945Staff Member, Sperry Gyroscope Division, Sperry Rand Corporation.

1946 – 1977Associate Professor to Professor of Physics (1946-1964); Wayman Crow Professor of Physics (1964-1974); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1974-1977), Washington University, St. Louis, St. Louis (Mo.).

1975Member, National Academy of Sciences.

November 7, 1977Death.

Occupation

Theoretical physicist.

Places

Birth

Fort Smith (Ark.)

Undergraduate Education

Austin (Tex.)

Graduate Education

Austin (Tex.)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

New York (N.Y.)

St. Louis (Mo.)

Subjects

Beta decay.

Nuclear forces (Physics).

Nuclear models.

Nuclear physics.

Quantum theory.

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Clark, J. W. (John Walter), 1935-

Advised by Feenberg at Washington University, St. Louis in quantum control.

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Advisor at University of Rome.

Kemble, Edwin C. (Edwin Crawford), 1889-

Ph.D. advisor at Harvard University and both employed at Harvard University.

Pake, G. E. (George Edward)

Co-wrote "Notes on the Quantum Theory of Angular Momentum" and both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Pauli, Wolfgang, 1900-1958

Advisor at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich in quantum mechanics.

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 1868-1951

Advisor at University of Munich.

Colleagues

Bainbridge, Kenneth T. (Kenneth Tompkins), 1904-1996

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Harvard University.

Bargmann, V. (Valentine), 1908-1989

Both employed at Institute for Advanced Study.

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Bridgman, P. W. (Percy Williams), 1882-1961

Both employed at Harvard University.

Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962

Both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Conant, James Bryant, 1893-1978

Both employed at Harvard University.

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Griggs, David, 1911-1974

Both employed at Harvard University.

Haworth, Leland J. (Leland John), 1904-

Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Herb, R. G. (Raymond George), 1908-1996

Both employed at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Hilberry, Norman, 1899-

Both employed at New York University.

Lyman, Theodore, 1874-1954

Both employed at Harvard University.

Morse, Marston, 1892-1977

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Pierce, George Washington, 1872-1956

Both employed at Harvard University.

Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983

Both employed at New York University and Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Saunders, Frederick A. (Frederick Albert), 1875-1963

Both employed at Harvard University.

Scalapino, Douglas J.

Both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Starr, Chauncey

Both employed at Harvard University.

Street, Jabez Curry, 1906-

Both employed at Harvard University.

Tousey, Richard

Both employed at Harvard University.

Ulam, Stanislaw M.

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980

Both employed at Harvard University.

Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Weissman, Samuel Isaac

Both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.).

Weyl, Hermann, 1885-1955

Both employed at the Institute for Advanced Study.

Additional

Amaldi, Edoardo

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Born, Max, 1882-1970

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Dempster, Arthur Jeffrey

Elsasser, Walter M., 1904-

Gamow, George, 1904-1968

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Phillips, Melba, 1907-2004

Slack, L. (Lewis), 1924-

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Institutions

Major Positions

Harvard University. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1933). Instructor in Physics.

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

Member.

New York University. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor of Physics, Washington Square College.

Sperry Rand Corporation. Sperry Gyroscope Division

Staff Member.

University of Wisconsin--Madison. Department of Physics

Lecturer in Physics.

Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.). Department of Physics

Associate Professor to Professor of Physics; Wayman Crow Professor of Physics; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Brookhaven National Laboratory

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

University of Texas at Austin. Department of Physics

Obtained BA and MA.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Development of nuclear physics in the 1930s [sound recording] : a lecture given at the University of Arkansas, 1973 April 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Eugene Feenberg correspondence, 1927-1958.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Eugene Feenberg papers, 1906-1977.

Libraries. University Archives

Washington University

Campus Box 1061, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA

Oral history interview with Eugene Feenberg, 1973 April 13 and 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Sessions from the SPS regional meeting [sound recording] / 1973 April 13, 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Washington University audiotape collection [sound recordings], 1946-1991.

Libraries. Special Collections

Washington University

Box 1061, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA

Subject

AIP Physics Programs Division records of Lewis Slack, 1968-1988.

Banquet in honor of the retirement of Eugene Feenberg [sound recording], 1975 March 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Edwin C. Kemble papers [microform], 1919-1937.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Edoardo Amaldi, 1963 April 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Thomas Lauritsen, 1967 February 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Notes on the quantum theory of angular momentum / by Eugene Feenberg and George Edward Pake.

Shell theory of the nucleus.

Subject

"Eugene Feenberg: 1906-1977", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Eugene Feenberg Physics Today obituary.