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PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectMelba Phillips
Dates
February 1, 1907 – November 8, 2004
Authorized Form of Name
Phillips, Melba, 1907-2004
Additional Forms of Names
Phillips, Melba (Melba Newell), 1907-
Phillips, Melba Newell
Biography
Abstract
Obtained PhD (physics), University of California, Berkeley (1933). Faculty, Brooklyn College; Columbia University Radiation Laboratory; Professor, University of Chicago; Visiting Professor, State University of New York, Stony Brook; Visiting Professor, University of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing (Zhongguo ke xue yuan).
Important Dates
February 1, 1907Birth, Gibson County (Ind.).
1923 – 1926Obtained bachelor's degree in mathematics, Oakland City College of Indiana, Oakland City (Ind.).
1927 – 1930Obtained master's degree in physics, Battle Creek College, Battle Creek (Mich.).
1933Obtained PhD in physics, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley (Calif.).
1935 – 1936Research fellow, Bryn Mawr College.
1936 – 1937Research fellow, Institute for Advanced Study.
1937 – 1938Instructor, Connecticut College for Women.
1938 – 1941Instructor, Brooklyn College, New York (N.Y.).
1941 – 1944Visiting Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (Minn.).
1944 – 1952Instructor, Brooklyn College. Terminated for refusing to testify before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security subcommitee to investigate alleged communist activities, New York (N.Y.).
1944 – 1952Worked at the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory. Terminated for refusing to testify before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security subcommitee to investigate alleged communist activities, New York (N.Y.).
1945Participated in founding of the Federation of American Scientists.
1957 – 1962Associate Director, Academic Year Institute, Washington University, Saint Louis (Mo.).
1960 – 1968Member, Commission on College Physics.
1962 – 1972Professor, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1963Awarded distinguished service citation, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
1964Awarded honorary degree, Oakland City College.
1966 – 1967President, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
1972 – 1975Visiting Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook.
1972 – 2004Professor Emerita, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).
1974Awarded Oersted Medal, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
1980Visiting Professor, graduate school, University of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Science.
1981Awarded first Melba Newell Phillips Award, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT).
1981Awarded Karl Taylor Compton Award, American Institute of Physics (AIP).
1988Awarded Guy and Rebecca Forman Award for Outstanding Teaching in Undergraduate Physics, Vanderbilt University.
2003Awarded Joseph Burton Forum Award, American Physical Society (APS).
November 8, 2004Death, Pike County (Ind.).
Occupation
Physics educator.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Physics -- Study and teaching.
Citations
From the finding aid of the Melba Phillips papers, Niels Bohr Library & Archives.
Relationships
People
Advisors & Collaborators
Bonner, Francis T.
Co-wrote "Principles of Physical Science."
Hamermesh, M. (Morton), 1915-2003
Co-wrote a paper.
Mara, Richard T.
Co-wrote "Electricity and Magnetism".
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Advised by Oppenheimer at University of California, Berkeley. The Oppenheimer-Phillips Process was named for their work after Phillips completed her PhD.
Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007
Co-wrote "Classical Electricity and Magnetism."
Raymond, Jane
Contributed to second edition of "Principles of Physical Science."
Weart, Spencer R., 1942-
Co-wrote "History of Physics."
Colleagues
Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974
Both employed at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.), Condon brought her to run the Academic Year Institute program.
Additional
Buchta, J. W. (J. William), 1895-1966
Crowther, J. G. (James Gerald), 1899-
Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-
Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-
Klopsteg, Paul E. (Paul Ernest), 1889-
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972
Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985
Salzman, Freda Friedman, 1927-1981
Salzman, George, 1925-
Schrecker, Ellen
Schweber, S. S. (Silvan S.)
Van Vleck, J. H. (John Hasbrouck), 1899-1980
Webster, Arthur Gordon, 1863-1923
Zemansky, Mark Waldo, 1900-
Institutions
Major Positions
Brooklyn College
Instructor.
Bryn Mawr College
Research fellow.
Columbia University. Department of Physics
Employed at the Columbia University Radiation Laboratory.
Connecticut College for Women
Instructor.
Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)
Research Fellow.
State University of New York at Stony Brook. Department of Physics
Visiting Professor.
University of Chicago. Department of Physics
Professor and Professor Emerita.
University of Minnesota. Department of Physics and Astronomy
Visiting Professor.
University of Science and Technology of China
Visiting Professor, Graduate School.
Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.)
Associate Director, Academic Year Institute.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association of Physics Teachers
President.
Battle Creek College (Battle Creek, Mich.)
Obtained Master's degree in Physics.
College of the City of New York (1926-1961). City College. Physics Department
Commission on College Physics
Federation of American Scientists
Founder.
Harvard University. Department of Physics
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Oakland City College (Oakland City, Ind.)
Obtained Bachelor's degree in Mathematics.
University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics
Obtained PhD in Physics.
Washington University (Saint Louis, Mo.). Department of Physics
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Joint ceremonial session of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers [sound recording], 1974 February 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Mark W. Zemansky commemorative session, American Association of Physics Teachers summer meeting, 1982 June 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Melba Phillips correspondence with Karl Kelchner Darrow, 1965-1967.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Melba Phillips papers, 1922-1999 (bulk 1950-1985).
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Melba Phillips personal recollections, undated.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Melba Phillips' response to early 1930s Ph.D.s Survey, 1978.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Melba Newell Phillips, 1977 December 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Melba Phillips, 1997 December 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
The American Physical Society: a survey of its first fifty years, 1988.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Subject
American Association of Physics Teachers records of Paul E. Klopsteg, 1930-1975.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Contributions of 20th century women to physics [online resource], 1900-1976.
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA
Edward Condon papers, circa 1920-1974.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Eulogies for Wendell Hinkle Furry, 1985.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Final script and draft, lesson 33 "Work and Energy" of Continental Classroom: Physics for the Atomic Age, program on NBC Television, 1958.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
James Brady's response to early 1930s Ph.D.s Survey, 1980.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Letter to Melba Phillips on Arthur Gordon Webster, 1986.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, 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
Oral history interview with Sam Schweber, 1998 October 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Stanley Deser, 2011 March 12.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
Classical electricity and magnetism
Physics history from AAPT journals
Principles of physical science
The life and times of modern physics : history of physics II