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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Theodore H. Maiman

Photo

Dates

July 11, 1927 – May 5, 2007

Authorized Form of Name

Maiman, Theodore H.

Additional Forms of Names

Maiman, Theodore Harold

Biography

Abstract

Theodore H. Maiman worked as a private consultant in high technology fields (1983-2007). Prior institutional affiliations included TRW Electronics Company and Laser Video Corporation. His research interests included condensed matter physics and lasers.

Important Dates

July 11, 1927Birth, Los Angeles (Calif.).

1949Obtained BS, University of Colorado, Boulder (Colo.).

1951Obtained MS, Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1955Obtained PhD in Physics, Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1955 – 1961Section Head, Hughes Aircraft Company, Hughes Research Laboratories, Culver City (Calif.).

1961 – 1968President and Founder, Korad Corporation.

1966Awarded Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, American Physical Society.

1968 – 1976President and Founder, Maiman Associates, Marina del Rey (Calif.).

1972 – 1975Vice President and Founder, Laser Video Corporation.

1975 – 1983Vice President, Technology, TRW Electronics Company.

1980Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1983Awarded Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics.

1983 – 2007Private Consultant.

1993Visiting Professor, University of Asuncion, Paraguay.

May 5, 2007Death, Vancouver (B.C.).

Occupation

Condensed matter physicist.

Places

Birth

Los Angeles (Calif.)

Undergraduate Education

Boulder (Colo.)

Graduate Education

Stanford (Calif.)

Employment

Culver City (Calif.)

Marina del Rey (Calif.)

Death

Vancouver (B.C.)

Subjects

Condensed matter.

Engineering physics.

Lasers.

Masers.

Relationships

People

Family

Maiman, Kathleen

Wife.

Advisors & Collaborators

Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008

PhD advisor at Stanford University, "Microwave-optical investigation of the 3³P fine structure in helium."

Additional

Abella, Isaac D., 1934-

Basov, N. G. (Nikolaĭ Gennadievich), 1922-2001

Bass, Michael, 1939-

Bennett, William Ralph, 1930-2008

Burns, Fred Paul, 1922-

D'Haenens, Irnee J., 1934-

Franken, Peter, 1928-1999

Hahn, E. L. (Erwin Louis), 1921-

Haun, Robert Dee, 1930-

Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-2021

Kidder, R. E. (Ray E.)

Millman, S. (Sidney), 1904-2006

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Smith, George Foster, 1922-

Soffer, Bernard Harold, 1931-

Wieder, Irwin, 1925-

Wittke, James P.

Yariv, Amnon

Institutions

Major Positions

Hughes Aircraft Company

Section Head, Hughes Research Lab.

Korad Corporation

President and Founder.

Laser Video Corporation

Vice President and Founder.

Maiman Associates

President and Founder.

TRW Electronics Company

Vice President, Technology.

Universidad Nacional de Asunción

Visiting Professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

Received 1966 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Stanford University. Department of Physics

Obtained MS (1951) and PhD (1955) in Physics.

University of Colorado Boulder. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1949).

Wolf Foundation Prizes

Received 1983 Wolf Foundation Prize in Physics.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Jeff Hecht laser pioneer interviews, 1984-1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

AIP Center for History of Physics responses to Laser History Project Survey, 1983.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

History of maser research and development at Hughes Aircraft, 1956-1960, 1983.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Irwin Wieder response to Laser History Project Survey, 1957-1988.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

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 Amnon Yariv, 1999 November 17, 24 and December 1.

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Arthur L. Schawlow, 1984 January 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Bernard Harold Soffer, 1985 May 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Erwin Louis Hahn, 1986 August 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Fred P. Burns, 1987 March 30.

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 Irnee J. D'Haenens, 1985 February 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Isaac D. Abella, 1985 October 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with James Pleister Wittke, 1983 September 13.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Michael Bass, 1985 May 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Nikolai Gennadievich Basov, 1984 September 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Peter Franken, 1985 March 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Ray E. Kidder, 2008 April 29.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Dee Haun, 1987 November 24.

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 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 William R. Bennett, 1987 October 26.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Selected papers from George F. Smith's tenure at Hughes Aircraft Company, 1960-1962.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

The Laser Odyssey (Blaine, WA: Laser Press, 2000)

Subject

"Theodore Maiman: The First Laser," in Laser Pioneer Interviews (Torrance, CA: High Tech Publications: 1985), 85-99

Beam: The Race to Make the Laser (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)

Theodore Harold Maiman Physics Today obituary.

Theodore Maiman National Academy of Sciences biography.

Theodore Maiman New York Times obituary.