Robert S. Shankland

Biography

Abstract

Physicist specializing in acoustics and atomic and nuclear physics. Physicist at the National Bureau of Standards (1929-30), on faculty at Case Institute of Technology (1930-76) and served as head of physics department (1940-58). Performed research in underwater sound during World War II.

Important Dates

January 11, 1908Birth, Willoughby (Ohio).

1929Obtained B.S. in Physics, Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland (Ohio).

1929 – 1930Physicist, Radio Section, National Bureau of Standards.

1930 – 1976Instructor (1930-37), Assistant Professor (1937-39), Associate Professor of Physics (1939-41), Head of Physics Department (1940-58), and Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics (1941-1976), Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland (Ohio).

1933Obtained M.S. in physics, Case School of Applied Science, Cleveland (Ohio).

1934 – 1936Assistant (1934-36) and Instructor (1936) in Physics, University of Chicago while on leave from Case School of Applied Science.

1935Obtained Ph.D. in physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1942 – 1945Chairman, Hydrophone Advisory Committee, U.S. Navy.

1942 – 1946Director, Underwater Sound Reference Labortories, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1943Scientific representative to the United Kingdom.

1944 – 1946Member, Underwater Sound Measurements Advisory Committee, U.S. Navy.

1945 – 1948Member, Acoustics Panel, Joint Research and Development Board.

1946 – 1949Physicist (summers only), Radiation Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley.

1951Participated in Project Vista at California Institute of Technology, a secret study to examine how existing and emerging technologies could repel a Soviet invasion of the rest of Europe.

1955Physicist and Acting Technical Director (summer only), Atomic Energy Division, Phillips Petrol Co.

1959 – 1961President, Associated Midwest Universities.

March 5, 1982Death.

Occupation

Nuclear and acoustical physicist.

Places

Birth

Willoughby (Ohio)

Undergraduate Education

Cleveland (Ohio)

Graduate Education

Cleveland (Ohio)

Chicago (Ill.)

Employment

Cleveland (Ohio)

Subjects

Anti-submarine warfare.

Architectural acoustics.

Atomic bomb.

Ionosphere.

Neutrinos.

Nuclear fission.

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Protons--Scattering.

Quantum theory.

Relativity (Physics).

Ultrasonic waves -- Military applications.

Underwater acoustics.

World War, 1939-1945.

Citations

From the Robert S. Shankland biographical file, Niels Bohr Library & Archives.

Relationships

People

Family

Griffiths, Eleanor Newlin

Second wife, married in 1971.

Shankland, Alan Clarry

Brother.

Shankland, Ava Gertrude

Daughter.

Shankland, Dorothy Margaret

Daughter.

Shankland, Frank North

Father.

Shankland, Hilda Catherine Kinnison

First wife, married in 1931. She died in 1970. They co-wrote multiple articles.

Shankland, Lois Virginia

Daughter.

Shankland, Ruth Ellen

Daughter.

Shankland, Sherwood Jean

Daughter.

Wedlock, Margaret Jane

Mother.

Advisors & Collaborators

Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892-1962

Ph.D. advisor at University of Chicago on the photon theory of scattering.

Gregg, Earle Covington

Co-wrote a report.

Hunt, Frederick V.

Co-wrote the Annual Report of the Acoustics Panel of the Research and Development Board in 1948.

Iselin, Columbus O’Donnell, 1904-1971

Co-wrote the Annual Report of the Acoustics Panel of the Research and Development Board in 1949.

Keller, Joseph Bishop, 1923-

Co-wrote a report.

Knowles, Hugh S., 1904-1988

Co-wrote the Annual Report of the Acoustics Panel of the Research and Development Board in 1948 and 1949.

Lofgren, Edward J., 1908-

Co-wrote an article.

McCuskey, S. W. (Sidney Wilcox)

Collaborated on a reexamination of Dayton Miller's work on absolute motion.

Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983

Co-wrote a report.

Richardson, John Reginald

Co-wrote an article.

Stevens, S. S. (Stanley Smith), 1906-1973

Co-wrote the Annual Report of the Acoustics Panel of the Research and Development Board in 1948 and 1949.

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Co-wrote an article.

Wright, Byron T. (Byron Terry), 1917-

Co-wrote an article.

Colleagues

Benade, Arthur H.

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Briggs, Lyman J. (Lyman James), 1874-1963

Both employed at the National Bureau of Standards.

Colpitts, Edwin Henry

Worked under Colpitts at the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Foldy, Leslie Lawrance

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Glennan, Thomas Keith, 1905-1995

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-

Both employed in the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Hutchisson, Elmer, 1902-

Both employed in the Office of Scientific Research and Development and Case Institute of Technology.

Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949

Both employed in the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Klein, Martin J.

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Miller, Dayton Clarence, 1866-1941

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Nassau, Jason John, 1893-1965

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Reines, Frederick, 1918-1998

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950

Worked under Tate at the Office of Scientific Research and Development.

Wickenden, William E. (William Elgin), 1882-1947

Both employed at Case Institute of Technology.

Additional

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Studied together at University of Chicago.

Birge, Raymond T. (Raymond Thayer), 1887-

Blackett, P. M. S. (Patrick Maynard Stuart), Baron Blackett, 1897-1974

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Bragg, William Henry, 1862-1942

Bragg, William Lawrence, Sir, 1890-1971

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Broglie, Louis de, 1892-1987

Chadwick, James, 1891-1974

Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954

Coolidge, William David, 1873-1975

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

Doan, Richard Lloyd, 1898-

Studied together at University of Chicago.

Eckart, Carl, 1902-1973

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

Ewald, Paul Peter, 1888-1985

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Fraser, Lorence

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Hertz, Gustav, 1887-

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Jr., 1841-1935

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

Kusch, Polykarp, 1911-1993

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

Lorentz, H. A. (Hendrik Antoon), 1853-1928

Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Rayleigh, John William Strutt, Baron, 1842-1919

Richardson, O. W. (Owen Willans), 1879-1959

Russell, Henry Norris, 1877-1957

Rutherford, Ernest, 1871-1937

Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976

Szell, George, 1897-1970

Thomson, J. J. (Joseph John), 1856-1940

Tuve, Merle Antony, 1901-1982

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

Wood, Robert Williams, 1868-1955

Institutions

Major Positions

Case Western Reserve University. Department of Physics

Obtained B.S. and M.S. in Physics. Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor of Physics, Head of Physics Department, and Ambrose Swasey Professor of Physics.

Cleveland Orchestra

Special Acoustical Consultant.

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

Physicist.

Phillips Petroleum Company. Atomic Energy Division

Physicist and Acting Technical Director.

Standard Oil Company (Ohio)

Physics Consultant.

United States. National Bureau of Standards

Physicist, Radio Section.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development

Director, Underwater Sound Reference Laboratories.

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained Ph.D. in physics. Assistant and Instructor in Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Acoustical Society of America

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Association of Physics Teachers

American Institute of Physics

Member, Governing Board.

American Physical Society

Argonne National Laboratory

Associated Midwest Universities

President.

Atomic Industrial Forum

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center

Trustee.

Franklin Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Optical Society of America

Physical Society (Great Britain)

United States. Joint Research and Development Board

Member, Acoustics Panel.

United States. Navy

Chairman, Hydrophone Advisory Committee and member, Underwater Sound Measurements Advisory Committee.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Bicentennial session on the history of pioneering American physicists [sound recording] / 1976 April 28.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert S. Shankland, 1974 August 20 and 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert S. Shankland papers, 1935-1982.

Archives

Case Western Reserve University

10900 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106-7229, USA

Subject

Case Western Reserve University Physics Department history, 2009.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral History interview with Lorence Fraser, 1983 March 9.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Recorded version of the speeches at the unveiling of the bust of Albert Abraham Michelson for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans at New York University, 1973.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Atomic and nuclear physics.

Subject

Robert S. Shankland Physics Today obituary