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Table of Contents

Institutional History

AbstractImportant DatesPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Yale University. Physics Department

Photo

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

New Haven (Conn.)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Atomic and molecular physics.

Biophysics.

Condensed matter.

Cosmology.

Nuclear physics.

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Quantum optics.

Relationships

People

Employees & Officers

Adair, Robert K., 1924-

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.

Bardeen, James Maxwell, 1939-

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.

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

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.

Casten, R.

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.

Friedman, Herbert, 1916-2000

Visiting Professor.

Girvin, Steven M.

Professor of Physics and Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics.

Gutzwiller, M. C. (Martin C.)

Adjunct Professor of Physics.

Haroche, S.

Professor.

Hohenberg, Pierre C.

Eugene Higgins Adjunct Professor of Physics and Applied Physics.

Holt, R. J. (Roy J.)

Received MPhil (1971) and PhD (Physics) in 1972. Research Staff Physicist.

Hughes, Vernon W.

Assistant Professor to Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Donner Professor; Sterling Professor of Physics; and Sterling Professor of Physics Emeritus.

Iachello, F.

Professor of Physics and Josiah Willard Gibbs Professor of Physics.

Jain, Jainendra K.

Research Associate.

Keyworth, George A., II, 1939-

Received BS.

Klein, Martin J.

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.

Mason, Max, 1877-1961

Assistant Professor, Sheffield Scientific School.

Montroll, E. W.

Sterling Research Fellow.

Read, Nicholas

Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and Professor of Physics.

Reppy, John David

Received PhD (1961). Assistant Professor of Physics.

Sandweiss, Jack H.

Instructor to Professor of Physics; Department Chair; Donner Professor of Physics; and Consultant, Laboratory for Marine Physics.

Spitzer, Lyman, 1914-1997

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.

Zeleny, John, 1872-

Professor of Physics; Emeritus Professor of Physics; and Lecturer in Physics.

PhD Students

Berlincourt, T. G.

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).

Georgi, Howard

Received PhD in Physics (1971).

Gunn, Ross, 1897-1966

Received PhD in Physics (1926).

Hull, Albert Wallace, 1880-1966

Received AB and PhD in Physics (1909).

Lee, David M.

Received PhD in Physics (1959).

Meservey, Robert, 1921-

Received PhD (1961).

Millikan, Clark Blanchard, 1903-1966

Received PhD (1924).

Schiffer, John P.

Received MS (1952) and PhD (1954).

Segal, Irving Ezra

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

Gell-Mann, Murray

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-

Lebowitz, Joel Louis, 1930-

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.

Scalapino, Douglas J.

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

Joseph H. Howey papers, 1927.

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

Oral history interviews. High-Energy Physics. Selected Experiments: FNAL-E-715: Precision Measure of the Decay Sigma- -- N E- NU, 1990-1991.

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.

Yale science : the first hundred years, 1701-1801.

Yale: the University College, 1921-1937.