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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as SubjectWilliam David Coolidge
Dates
October 23, 1873 – February 3, 1975
Authorized Form of Name
Coolidge, William David, 1873-1975
Additional Forms of Names
Coolidge, W. D. (William David), 1873-1975
Biography
Abstract
William David Coolidge is well known for his contributions to X-ray machines and his work with tungsten filaments. He was the director of the General Electric Research Laboratory (1932-1940) and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
Important Dates
October 23, 1873Birth, Boston (Mass.).
1896Obtained BS in Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).
1897 – 1905Assistant in Physics (1897); Instructor in Physical Chemistry (1901-1903); and Assistant Professor of Physico-Chemical Research (1904-1905), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).
1899Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Leipzig, Leipzig (Germany).
1905 – 1975Physico-Chemist (1905-1907); Assistant Director, Research Laboratory (1908-1928); Associate Director, Research Laboratory (1928-1932); Director, Research Laboratory (1932-1940); Vice President and Director of Research (1940-1944); Consultant on X-Rays (1945-1961); and Emeritus Director, Research and Development Center (1961-1975), General Electric Company, Schenectady (N.Y.).
1925Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1930 – 1935Term Member, MIT Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
1935 – 1949Member, Visiting Committee, National Bureau of Standards.
1941Member, Advisory Committee on Uranium Research, National Academy of Sciences.
February 3, 1975Death, Schenectady (N.Y.).
Occupation
Applied physicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Applied physics and engineering.
Physics -- Industrial applications.
Relationships
People
Family
Coolidge, Albert Edward
Father.
Coolidge, Dorothy Elizabeth
Second wife.
Coolidge, Elizabeth
Daughter.
Coolidge, Ethel Woodward
Wife. Married in 1908.
Coolidge, Lawrence
Son.
Coolidge, Martha Alice
Mother.
Colleagues
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Bain, Edgar Collins, 1891-1971
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Edgerton, Harold Eugene, 1903-1990
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Hull, Albert Wallace, 1880-1966
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Slichter, Louis B. (Louis Byrne), 1896-1978
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Suits, C. Guy (Chauncey Guy), 1905-1991
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948
Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Webb, M. B. (Maurice Barnett), 1926-
Both employed at General Electric Company.
Additional
James, Hubert Maxwell, 1908-
Kerst, Donald William, 1911-1993
Leverenz, Humboldt W.
Mott-Smith, Harold Meade, 1897-
Röntgen, Wilhelm Conrad, 1845-1923
Thomson, Elihu, 1853-1937
Institutions
Major Positions
General Electric Company. Research and Development Center
Emeritus Director.
General Electric Company. Research Laboratory
Physico-Chemist; Assistant Director; Associate Director; Director; Vice President and Director of Research; Consultant on X-Rays; and Emeritus Director.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
Instructor in Physical Chemistry and Assistant Professor of Physico-Chemical Research.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Assistant in Physics.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Corporation
Term Member.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering
Obtained BS in 1896.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member, Advisory Committee on Uranium Research.
United States. National Bureau of Standards
Member, Visiting Committee.
Universität Leipzig (1409-1953)
Obtained PhD (Physics) in 1899.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Lectures by William Coolidge, L. E. Etter, and Niels Bohr [sound recording], 1938.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William D. Coolidge autobiographical notes, circa 1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
William David Coolidge papers, 1926-1954 (bulk 1940-1954).
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Subject
Albert W. Hull papers, 1920-1964.
Schenectady Museum
Nott Terrace Heights, Schenectady, NY 12308, USA
Donald W. Kerst papers, 1937-1959.
University Archives
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Elihu Thomson papers, 1853-1955.
Library
American Philosophical Society
105 South Fifth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA
Oral history interview with H. M. Mott-Smith, 1977 March 1 and 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Hubert Maxwell James, 1981 July 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Humboldt Walter Leverenz, 1979 July 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Reminiscences of Albert Wallace Hull, 1951.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Transcripts of tributes to Elihu Thomson presented at the American Philosophical Society and the Franklin Institute by former associates, 1939.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
University Archives
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
Published Resources
Subject
William David Coolidge Physics Today obituary.
William David Coolidge: 1873-1975, Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences