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Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectRobert F. Bacher
Dates
August 31, 1905 – November 18, 2004
Authorized Form of Name
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004
Additional Forms of Names
Bacher, Robert, 1905-2004
Bacher, Robert F.
Bacher, Robert F., 1905-2004
Biography
Abstract
Robert Bacher was an American nuclear physicist and one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project. During his career, Bacher was a director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Studies at Cornell and vice president and provost at the California Institute of Technology.
Important Dates
August 31, 1905Birth, Loudonville (Ohio).
1926Obtained BS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Mich.).
1930Obtained PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Mich.).
1930 – 1931National Research Fellow in Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1931 – 1932National Research Fellow in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
1932 – 1933Lloyd Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (Mich.).
1934 – 1935Instructor in Physics, Columbia University.
1935 – 1949Instructor to Professor of Physics and Director, Nuclear Studies Laboratory (defunct), Cornell University, Ithaca (N.Y.).
1941 – 1945Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Radiation Laboratory.
1943 – 1945Head, Experimental Physics Division (1943-1944) and Head, Bomb Physics Division, Los Alamos Laboratory (1944-1945), Manhattan Project, Los Alamos (N.M.).
1946Member, Board of Trustees, Associated Universities, Inc.
1946 – 1949Science Adviser to the United States Representative, United Nations.
1946 – 1949Commissioner, United States Atomic Energy Commission.
1947Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1949 – 2004Professor of Physics (1949-1976); Chair, Division of Physics Mathematics and Astronomy (1949-1962); Provost (1962-1970); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1976-2004), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1950 – 1960Member, Board of Trustees, RAND Corporation.
1953 – 1956Member, Science Advisory Committee, United States Office of Defense Mobilization.
1957 – 1959Member, President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).
1957 – 1962Member, Naval Research Advisory Committee, United States Navy.
1959 – 1976Member, Board of Trustees, Carnegie Corporation.
1962 – 1966Member, Board of Trustees, Associated Universities, Inc.
1964President, American Physical Society.
1965 – 1975Member, Board of Trustees (1965-1975); Chair, Board of Trustees (1970-1973); and Acting President (1973-1974), Universities Research Association, Washington (D.C.).
1970 – 1973Member, Board of Trustees, Associated Universities, Inc.
1971 – 1988Member, Board of Fellows, Claremont University Center.
November 18, 2004Death, Montecito (Calif.).
Occupation
Nuclear physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Family
Bacher, Andrew Dow
Son.
Bacher, Jean
Wife
Advisors & Collaborators
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Both employed at Cornell University and co-wrote "Nuclear physics" and "Seminal articles on nuclear physics."
Goudsmit, Samuel A. (Samuel Abraham), 1902-1978
Ph.D. advisor at University of Michigan "Zeeman effect of the hyperfine structure of atomic levels," and co-wrote "Atomic energy states, as derived from the analyses of optical spectra."
Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)
Both employed at Cornell University and co-wrote "Nuclear physics" and "Seminal articles on nuclear physics."
McDaniel, Boyce D. (Boyce Dawkins), 1917-
Advised by Bacher at Cornell University, "The absorption of slow neutrons by indium," and both employed at Cornell University.
Colleagues
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Compton, K. T. (Karl Taylor), 1887-1954
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Both employed at Cornell University.
Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-
Both employed at Cornell University.
Critchfield, Charles Louis, 1910-
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Columbia University.
Dryden, Hugh L. (Hugh Latimer), 1898-1965
Both worked at United States Office of Defense Mobilization.
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Both employed at California Institute of Technology and and worked at United States Office of Defense Mobilization.
DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975
Both employed at Columbia University.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Eisenstein, James P. (James Philip)
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988
Both employed at Cornell University and California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Frisch, Otto Robert, 1904-
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Froman, Darol K. (Darol Kenneth), 1906-1997
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Furry, W. H. (Wendell Hinkle), 1907-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Gould, Roy W. (Roy Walter), 1927-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-2021
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Higinbotham, William A.
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Kaspi, Victoria Michelle, 1967-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Kerst, Donald William, 1911-1993
Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Killian, T. J. (Thomas Joseph), 1905-
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Kimble, H. Jeff (Harry Jeffrey), 1949-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Kistiakowsky, George B. (George Bogdan), 1900-1982
Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at University of Michigan.
Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Mack, Julian Ellis, 1903-1966
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Manley, John Henry, 1907-
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Millikan, Clark Blanchard, 1903-1966
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Both employed at Cornell University.
Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Both employed at California Institute of Technology and Los Alamos Laboratory, the Manhattan Project.
Parratt, Lyman G. (Lyman George)
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958
Both employed at Columbia University.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).
Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988
Both employed at Columbia University.
Randall, Harrison M. (Harrison McAllister), 1870-
Both employed at University of Michigan.
Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at Cornell University and the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Slater, John C. (John Clarke), 1900-1976
Both employed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Staub, Hans H.
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Tape, Gerald Frederick, 1915-2005
Both employed at Cornell University.
Teukolsky, Saul A. (Saul Arno), 1947-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Waterman, Alan Tower, 1892-1967
Both worked at United States Office of Defense Mobilization.
Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994
Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Williams, John H. (John Harry), 1908-
Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at Cornell University and Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Wu, Theodore Y.-T. (Theodore Yao-tsu)
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)
Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC).
Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986
Both worked on President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) and United States Office of Defense Mobilization.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Additional
Cranberg, Lawrence, 1917-2011
Dennison, David M. (David Mathias), 1900-1976
Dirac, P. A. M. (Paul Adrien Maurice), 1902-1984
Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981
Groueff, Stephane
Larson, Clarence E. (Clarence Edward), 1909-
Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958
Marshak, Robert E. (Robert Eugene), 1916-1992
Sands, Matthew L. (Matthew Linzee)
Smith, Cyril Stanley, 1903-1992
Tombrello, Thomas A.
Uhlenbeck, George Eugène, 1900-1988
Whaling, Ward, 1923-
Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008
Institutions
Major Positions
California Institute of Technology
Provost.
California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy
National Research Fellow in Physics; Professor of Physics; Chair, Division of Physics Mathematics and Astronomy; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.
Columbia University. Department of Physics
Instructor in Physics.
Cornell University. Department of Physics
Instructor to Professor of Physics and Director, Nuclear Studies Laboratory.
Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory
Head, Experimental Physics Division and Head, Bomb Physics Division, Manhattan Project.
Manhattan Project (U.S.)
Head, Experimental Physics Division and Head, Bomb Physics Division, Los Alamos Laboratory.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory
Researcher.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
President.
Associated Universities, Inc.
Member, Board of Trustees.
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Member, Board of Trustees.
Claremont University Center
Member, Board of Fellows.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
National Research Fellow in Physics.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member.
Rand Corporation
Member, Board of Trustees.
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Commissioner.
United Nations
Science Adviser to the United States Representative.
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
United States. Navy
Member, Naval Research Advisory Committee.
United States. President's Science Advisory Committee
Member.
United States. Science Advisory Committee
Member.
Universities Research Association (U.S.)
Acting President; Member, Board of Trustees; and Chair, Board of Trustees.
University of Michigan. Department of Physics
Obtained BS in 1926, PhD in 1930, and Lloyd Fellow.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Lawrence Cranberg papers, 1962-2000.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Manhattan Project videohistory collection [videorecording], 1987-1990.
Archives
Smithsonian Institution
Capital Gallery, Suite 3000, MRC 507, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024-2520, USA
National Air and Space Museum Rand History Project oral history interviews, 1985-1990.
Archives Division
Smithsonian Institution. National Air and Space Museum
MRC 322, Washington, DC, 20560, USA
Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1966 June 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1981, 1983.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral History interview with Robert F. Bacher, 1986 February 13.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Robert F. Bacher papers, 1924-1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Subject
Brookhaven National Laboratory interview transcripts, 1966-1986.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Charles C. Lauritsen papers, 1927-1977 (bulk 1946-1973).
Institute Archives
Institute Archives
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Clarence E. Larson science and technology oral history collection, 1983-1993.
Special Collections & Archives
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA
Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists records, 1946-1951.
The Joseph Regenstein Library. Department of Special Collections
University of Chicago
1100 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
Informal moments, Summer Symposia at the University of Michigan [motion picture] / taken by David Dennison ; 1933-1937.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Keck Telescope papers, dates unknown.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Murray Gell-Mann papers, 1931-2001 (bulk 1955-1993).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Charles Christian Lauritsen, 1966 June 27.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Cyril Stanley Smith, 1976 September 23.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Cyril Stanley Smith, 1976 September 23. Metallurgy and atomic energy policy: typescript (photocopy), 1980.
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, 94720-6000, USA
Oral history interview with Hans Bethe, 1982, 1993.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with John Archibald Wheeler, 1967 April 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Lee A. DuBridge, Parts I and II, 1981.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Matthew L. Sands, 1987 May 4 and 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Benjamin Leighton, 1977 July 29 and August 5.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert Marshak, 1970 June 15, 16, September 19, and October 4.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Samuel Abraham Goudsmit, 1963 December 5 and 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Samuel Goudsmit 1976 May 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Thomas Tombrello, 2010 December 26-31.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Ward Whaling, 1999 April-May.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
President's Science Advisory Committee records, 1957-1961.
Library
Dwight D. Eisenhower Library
Abilene, KS 67410, USA
Rochester Conference on High Energy Nuclear Physics proceedings, 1952 and 1955.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Samuel A. Goudsmit papers, 1921-1979.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Stephane Groueff papers, 1955-1975
Mugar Library Special Collections
Boston University
771 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission records (Record Group 326), 1923-1975.
Office of the National Archives
National Archives and Records Administration
8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20408, USA
William A. Higinbotham 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