G. E. Brown

Biography

Abstract

Gerald Edward Brown was a physicist who played a key role in the development of modern atomic, many-body and nuclear physics. He researched such topics as the Lamb shift in heavy atoms, electron-electron interactions, and giant dipole resonance. His institutional affiliations include University of Birmingham, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics, and State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Important Dates

July 22, 1926Birth, Brookings (S.D.).

1946Obtained B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison (Wis.).

1948Obtained M.S., Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).

1950Obtained Ph.D., Yale University, New Haven (Conn.).

1955 – 1960Lecturer in Mathematical Physics (1955-1958); Reader in Mathematical Physics (1958-1959); and Professor of Physics (1959-1960), University of Birmingham, Birmingham (England).

1957Obtained D.Sc., University of Birmingham, Birmingham (England).

1960Director, Nuclear Physics Section, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

1960 – 1985Professor of Physics, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Atomic Physics (Nordisk institut for teoretisk atomfysik), Stockholm (Sweden).

1962 – 1974Editor, Physics Letters, Elsevier.

1964 – 1968Professor of Physics, Princeton University.

1968 – 2013Professor of Physics (1968-1974); Leading Professor of Physics (1974-1988); and Distinguished Professor of Physics (1988-2013), State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook (N.Y.).

1974Haederspris of the Niels Bohr Institute (Niels Bohr Institutet).

1974 – 2011Editor, Nuclear Physics, Elsevier.

1975Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1978Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1982Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

1996Awarded Max Planck Medal, German Physical Society (Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft).

2001Awarded Hans A. Bethe Prize, American Physical Society.

May 31, 2013Death, Setauket (N.Y.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

Brookings (S.D.)

Undergraduate Education

Madison (Wis.)

Graduate Education

New Haven (Conn.)

Birmingham (England)

Employment

Birmingham (England)

Stockholm (Sweden)

Stony Brook (N.Y.)

Death

Setauket (N.Y.)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Nuclear physics.

Quantum electrodynamics.

Spectrum analysis.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

Collaborated on nuclear physics derived equations of state in the theory of compact stars.

Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995

Ph.D. advisor at University of Birmingham.

Colleagues

Bardeen, William A.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Bargmann, V. (Valentine), 1908-1989

Both employed at Princeton University.

Bleakney, Walker, 1901-1992

Both employed at Princeton University.

Blume, Martin, 1932-

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Callan, Curtis G.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Courant, Ernest D. (Ernest David), 1920-

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Cronin, James W., 1931-2016

Both employed at Princeton University.

Dicke, Robert H. (Robert Henry)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Dolan, Gerald

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Feibelman, Peter J.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Princeton University.

Freedman, Daniel Z.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Glimm, James

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hartle, J. B. (James B.)

Both employed at Princeton University.

Hopfield, John J.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Jacak, Barbara

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Jain, Jainendra K.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Marburger, John H., III (John Harmen), 1941-2011

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

McCoy, Barry M.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Pollock, Robert Elwood, 1936-

Both employed at Princeton University.

Smyth, Henry De Wolf, 1898-1986

Both employed at Princeton University.

Sprouse, Gene D.

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Thorne, Kip S.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Treiman, Sam B.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Van Nieuwenhuizen, Peter

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Weiss, Rainer

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wheeler, John Archibald, 1911-2008

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wightman, A. S. (Arthur Strong), 1922-2013

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Both employed at Princeton University.

Wilkinson, David T.

Both employed at Princeton University.

Yang, Chen Ning, 1922-

Both employed at State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Additional

Ashcroft, Neil W.

Breit, Gregory, 1899-1981

Breit taught Brown at University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Lee, Chang-Hwan

Institutions

Major Positions

Nordisk institut for teoretisk atomfysik

Professor of Physics.

Princeton University. Department of Physics

Professor of Physics.

State University of New York at Stony Brook. Department of Physics

Professor of Physics; Leading Professor of Physics; and Distinguished Professor of Physics.

University of Birmingham. Department of Mathematical Physics

Obtained DSc (1957). Lecturer in Mathematical Physics; Reader in Mathematical Physics; and Professor of Physics.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Director, Nuclear Physics Section.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Physical Society

Received 1982 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics and 2001 Hans A. Bethe Prize.

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (1963- )

Received 1996 Max Planck Medal.

Elsevier Science Publishers

Editor, Physics Letters and Editor, Nuclear Physics.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Niels Bohr institutet

Haederspris.

Suomen Tiedeseura

University of Wisconsin--Madison. Department of Physics

Obtained BA (1946).

Yale University. Physics Department

Obtained MS (1948) and PhD (1950).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Distinguished speakers session [sound recording], 1982 April 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Gregory Breit Symposium [sound recording], 1968 May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Fly with Eagles, Annual Reviews of Nuclear and Particle Science 51 (2001): 1-22.

Hans Bethe and his physics / edited by Gerald E. Brown, Chang-Hwan Lee.

Subject

From nuclei to stars : festschrift in honor of Gerald E. Brown / editor, Sabine Lee.

Gerald Brown Physics Today obituary.