Burton Richter

Biography

Abstract

Burton Richter was Director of Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) (1984-1999). Other institutional affiliations include Stanford University. His research interests include high energy physics; particle accelerators; and colliding beam systems.

Important Dates

March 22, 1931Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1952Obtained BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1956Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1956 – 1963Research Associate, High Energy Physics Laboratory (1956-1960) and Assistant Professor of Physics (1960-1963), Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1963 – presentAssociate Professor (1963-1967); Professor (1967-present); Technical Director (1982-1984); Director (1984-1999); and Emeritus Director (1999-present), Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), Menlo Park (Calif.).

1976Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with Samuel C. C. Ting "for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind".

1977Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1980 – presentPaul Pigott Professor of Physical Science (1980-1999) and Paul Pigott Professor of Physical Science Emeritus (1999-present), Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1989Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1989 – 2002Member, Board of Directors, Varian Medical Systems.

1994President, American Physical Society.

1999 – 2002President, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

2000 – 2006Member, Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, United States Department of Energy.

2002 – 2005Member, Executive Board, International Council for Science (ICSU).

2003 – 2006Chair, Board on Physics and Astronomy, National Research Council.

2010Awarded Enrico Fermi Award, United States Department of Energy.

July 18, 2018Death, Stanford (Calif.).

Occupation

High energy physicist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Stanford (Calif.)

Menlo Park (Calif.)

Death

Stanford (Calif.)

Subjects

Colliders (Nuclear physics).

Colliding beams.

Particle accelerators.

Quantum electrodynamics.

Relationships

People

Family

Becker, Laurose

Wife. Married in 1960.

Richter, Abraham

Father.

Richter, Elizabeth, 1961-

Daughter.

Richter, Fanny

Mother.

Richter, Matthew, 1963-

Son.

Advisors & Collaborators

Feld, Bernard Taub, 1919-

PhD advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), "Photoproduction of positive pions from hydrogen by 265 Mev gamma rays."

Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-

Shared Nobel Prize in Physics "for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind."

Colleagues

Arnold, R. G. (Raymond George), 1942-

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Bjorken, James D.

Both employed at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and Stanford University.

Bloch, Felix, 1905-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Stanford University.

Dorfan, Jonathan

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Drell, Persis S.

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at Stanford University and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Fairbank, William Martin, 1917-1989

Both employed at Stanford University.

Friedman, Jerome I. (Jerome Isaac), 1930-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Guth, Alan H.

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kahn, Steven Michael

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kirkpatrick, Paul

Both employed at Stanford University.

Meyerhof, Walter E. (Walter Ernst), 1922-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Pake, G. E. (George Edward)

Both employed at Stanford University.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at Stanford University and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Perl, Martin L., 1927-2014

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Prescott, Charles

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Quinn, Helen R.

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Both employed at Stanford University.

Shen, Zhi-Xun

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Stöhr, Joachim

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Sullivan, Jeremiah D.

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Taylor, Richard Edward, 1929-2018

Both employed at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC).

Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982

Both employed at Stanford University.

Walecka, John Dirk, 1932-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Additional

Pickering, Andrew, 1948-

Trilling, George H.

Institutions

Major Positions

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Professor.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

Associate Professor; Professor; Technical Director; Director; and Emeritus Director.

Stanford University. Department of Physics

Research Associate, High Energy Physics Laboratory; Assistant Professor of Physics; Paul Pigott Professor of Physical Science; and Paul Pigott Professor of Physical Science Emeritus.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Fellow.

American Physical Society

President.

International Council for Science

Member, Executive Board.

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

President.

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1952) and PhD (1956).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Chair, Board on Physics and Astronomy.

United States. Department of Energy

Member, Secretary of Energy Advisory Board and awarded 2010 Enrico Fermi Award.

Varian Associates

Member, Board of Directors.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Andrew Pickering interviews conducted for his book CONSTRUCTING QUARKS, 1978-1982.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Burton Richter papers, 1952-1999 (bulk 1963-1999).

National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)

2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

Distinguished speaker session [sound recording] / 1977 April 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

High Energy Physics Laboratory Colliding Beam Experiment records (CBX), 1958-1981.

National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)

2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

Keynote address and awards ceremony [sound recording]

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Burton Richter, 1996 July 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Probes: Psi Discovery - SLAC-SP-017: An Experimental Survey of Positron-Electron Annihilation into Multi-Particle Final States in the S Range 27-74 GeV-Squared, 1991.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Pais Prize session: the national laboratories after 1980 [sound recording], 2012 April 2.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Symposium on Electron Linear Accelerators in honor of Richard B. Neal's 80th birthday [sound recording] / Stanford Linear Accelerator Center ; 1997 September 5.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

American Institute of Physics Physics Today division Bertram Schwarzschild Nobel Prize files, 1954-2013.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with George H. Trilling, 2006 March 1.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Panofsky, 2004 April 7, 8, 9 and May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

SLAC Director's Office records of Burton Richter, 1974-[ongoing].

National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)

2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

SLAC Research Division Group C leader's files 1962-1979.

National Accelerator Laboratory. Archives and History Office

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)

2575 Sand Hill Road, MS 97, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

The quantum universe [videorecording].

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

"The Rise of Colliding Beams," in The Rise of the Standard Model: Particle Physics in the 1960s and 1970s, ed. Lillian Hoddeson, Laurie Brown, Michael Riordan, and Max Dresden (New York: Cambridge University Press: 1997), 261-284

Nobel Prize Autobiography.