Leonard I. Schiff

Biography

Abstract

Ph.D. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1937. Instructor, Assistant Professor, and Associate Professor of Physics at University of Pennsylvania, 1940-1947; Acting Chair of the Physics Department, 1942-1945. Professor of Physics at Stanford University, 1947-1970; Head of the Physics Department, 1948-1966.

Important Dates

March 29, 1915Birth, Fall River (Mass.).

1933Received B.E., the Ohio State University, Columbus (Ohio).

1934Received M.S., the Ohio State University, Columbus (Ohio).

1937Received Ph.D. in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1937 – 1938National Research Council (NRC) Fellow, University of California, Berkeley and California Institute of Technology.

1938 – 1940Research Associate in Physics, University of California, Berkeley.

1940 – 1947Instructor (1940-1942); Assistant Professor of Physics (1942-1944); Acting Chair, Department of Physics (1942-1945); and Associate Professor of Physics (1944-1947), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Pa.).

1941 – 1945National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) Researcher, Columbia University.

1943 – 1944Researcher, University of California, Berkeley.

1943 – 1945Consultant, Operations Research Group, U.S. Navy.

1944 – 1971Associate Professor of Physics (1944-1947); Professor of Physics (1948-1971); and Executive Head, Department of Physics (1948-1966), Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1945 – 1946Researcher, Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

1955 – 1965Chair, Physics Advisory Committee, Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Air Force.

1956 – 1957Visiting Professor and Guggenheim Fellow, University of Paris.

1957Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1961 – 1966Member (1961-1966) and Chair (1965-1966), Physical Sciences Program Committee, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

1967 – 1968Chair, Division of Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society (APS).

January 19, 1971Death.

Occupation

Theoretical nuclear physicist and quantum mechanist.

Places

Birth

Fall River (Mass.)

Undergraduate Education

Columbus (Ohio)

Graduate Education

Columbus (Ohio)

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Stanford (Calif.)

Subjects

Cyclotrons.

Nuclear physics.

Physics -- Study and teaching.

Quantum theory.

Relativity (Physics).

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Family

Schiff, Edward E.

Father.

Schiff, Ellen

Daughter.

Schiff, Frances

Wife, married in 1941.

Schiff, Lee

Son.

Schiff, Mathilda B.

Mother.

Advisors & Collaborators

Barnhill, Maurice V.

Advised by Schiff at Stanford University on quantum theory.

Gibson, B. F. (Benjamin F.), 1938-

Advised by Schiff at Stanford University on quantum theory.

Morrison, Philip

Co-wrote an article.

Morse, Philip M. (Philip McCord), 1903-1985

Ph.D. advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on quantum theory.

Spruch, Larry

Advised by Schiff at University of Pennsylvania on quantum theory.

Wagoner, Robert V.

Advised by Schiff at Stanford University on relativity and gravitational theory.

Colleagues

Adelberger, Eric G.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Agnew, Harold M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Alvarez, Luis W., 1911-1988

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Anderson, Herbert Lawrence

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bardeen, William A.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Barschall, H. H. (Henry Herman), 1915-1997

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bateman, Harry, 1882-1946

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Bederson, Benjamin

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

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

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Bjorken, James D.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Bloch, Felix, 1905-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Bradbury, Norris, 1909-1997

Both employed at Stanford University.

Brode, Robert B. (Robert Bigham), 1900-1986

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Case, Kenneth M.

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Chamberlain, O. (Owen)

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Chodorow, Marvin

Both employed at Stanford University.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Corson, Dale R.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Drell, Sidney D. (Sidney David), 1926-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Duffield, Robert B.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Elsasser, Walter M., 1904-

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Fairbank, William Martin, 1917-1989

Both employed at Stanford University.

Falicov, L. M. (Leopoldo Maximo), 1933-1995

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Fetter, Alexander L., 1937-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Fowler, William A.

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Friedman, Jerome I. (Jerome Isaac), 1930-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Glashow, Sheldon L.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hahn, E. L. (Erwin Louis), 1921-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Hansen, W. W. (William Webster), 1909-1949

Both employed at Stanford University.

Helmholz, August Carl, 1915-2003

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Henley, Ernest M.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Hofstadter, Robert, 1915-1990

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University.

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

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Jaffe, Arthur, 1937-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kendall, Henry W. (Henry Way), 1926-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Kirkpatrick, Paul

Both employed at Stanford University.

Lamb, Willis E. (Willis Eugene), 1913-2008

Both employed at Stanford University.

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Lawrence, Ernest Orlando, 1901-1958

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Loeb, Leonard B. (Leonard Benedict), 1891-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Marshak, Robert E. (Robert Eugene), 1916-1992

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

McDaniel, Boyce D. (Boyce Dawkins), 1917-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

McMillan, Edwin M. (Edwin Mattison), 1907-

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Meyerhof, Walter E. (Walter Ernst), 1922-

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University.

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Neddermeyer, Seth H. (Seth Henry), 1907-1988

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Both employed at California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley.

Pake, G. E. (George Edward)

Both employed at Stanford University.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at Stanford University.

Richter, Burton, 1931-2018

Both employed at Stanford University.

Rieser, Leonard M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Rosenbluth, M. N.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schwartz, Melvin, 1932-2006

Both employed at Stanford University.

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Segrè, Emilio

Both employed at University of California, Berkeley.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Smith, Neville, 1942-2006

Both employed at Stanford University.

Sprouse, Gene D.

Both employed at Stanford University.

Terman, Frederick Emmons, 1900-1982

Both employed at Stanford University.

Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948

Both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Turkevich, Anthony, 1916-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Walecka, John Dirk, 1932-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Webster, David Locke, 1888-1976

Both employed at Stanford University.

White, Robert M., 1938-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wojcicki, Stanley G., 1937-

Both employed at Stanford University.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Additional

Inglis, David Rittenhouse, 1905-1995

Institutions

Major Positions

California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy

National Research Council (NRC) Fellow.

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Researcher at Los Alamos Laboratory.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Fellow at University of California, Berkeley and California Institute of Technology.

Stanford University. Department of Physics

Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; and Executive Head of department.

Université de Paris

Visiting Professor and Guggenheim Fellow.

University of California, Berkeley. Department of Physics

National Research Council (NRC) Fellow; Research Associate in Physics; and Researcher.

University of Pennsylvania. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Instructor; Assistant Professor of Physics; Acting Chair, Department of Physics; and Associate Professor of Physics.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Member and Chair, Physical Sciences Program Committee.

American Association for the Advancement of Science

American Institute of Physics

American Physical Society

Chair, Division of Nuclear Physics.

Federation of American Scientists

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Received Ph.D. in 1937.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Ohio State University

Received B.E. in 1933 and M.S. in 1934.

United States. Air Force. Office of Scientific Research

Chair, Physics Advisory Committee.

United States. Navy

Consultant, Operations Research Group.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. National Defense Research Committee

Researcher, Columbia University.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Leonard I. Schiff papers, 1948-1971.

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305, USA

Subject

Ben Bederson interview of Larry Spruch, Sidney Borowitz and Ed Gerjuoy [videorecording], 26 July 2004.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Notes on physics courses given at Los Alamos, 1943-1946.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with David Rittenhouse Inglis, 1977 May 9 and 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Wagoner, 1988 October 14.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with William Alfred Fowler, 1972 June 8, 9, 1973 February 5, 6, and 1974 May 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Quantum mechanics.

Subject

Leonard I. Schiff Physics Today obituary.