Herman Feshbach

Biography

Important Dates

February 2, 1917Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1937Obtained SB, City College of New York, New York (N.Y.).

1937 – 1938Tutor in Physics, City College of New York.

1941 – 2000Instructor in Physics (1941-1945); Assistant Professor of Physics (1945-1947); Associate Professor of Physics (1947-1955); Professor of Physics (1955-1976); Director, Center for Theoretical Physics (1967-1973); Chair, Department of Physics (1973-1983); Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics (1976-1983); Institute Professor (1983-1987); and Institute Professor Emeritus (1987-2000), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1942Obtained PhD in Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1957Co-founded with Philip Morse, and Chief Editor, Annals of Physics.

1968 – 1975Member, Committee on Nuclear Science, National Research Council.

1969Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1969 – 1972Member, Physics Survey Committee, National Research Council.

1970 – 1971Chair, Division of Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

1970 – 1972Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Data Compilation, National Research Council.

1973Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

1973 – 1976Vice President, Class I, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1974 – 1978Divisional Councilor, Division of Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

1974 – 1987Member, Board of Trustees, Associated Universities, Inc.

1976 – 1982Member, Executive Committee, Council, American Physical Society.

1978 – 1995Member, Board of Governors, Weizmann Institute of Science.

1979 – 1982Member, Advisory Board, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

1979 – 1983Member, National Council, Federation of American Scientists.

1979 – 1983Chair, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, United States Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.

1980President, American Physical Society.

1981 – 1982Member, Committee on Government-University Relationship in Support of Science, National Research Council.

1981 – 1987Member-at-Large (Nuclear Physics), U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, National Research Council.

1982 – 1986President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

1984 – 1990Chair, Nuclear Physics Division, International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

1986National Medal of Science.

1987 – 1990Member, Board of Governors, Tel Aviv University.

December 22, 2000Death, Cambridge (Mass.).

Occupation

Theoretical nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Graduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Employment

Cambridge (Mass.)

Death

Cambridge (Mass.)

Subjects

Nuclear disarmament.

Nuclear physics.

Nuclear reactions.

Theoretical physics.

Relationships

People

Advisors & Collaborators

Iachello, F.

Advised by Feshbach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Theoretical Physics.

Kraichnan, Robert H., 1928-2008

Advised by Feshbach at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), “Relativistic Scattering of Pseudoscalar Mesons by Nucleons.”

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

PhD advisor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on "Relating the Properties of Tritium to Nuclear Forces" and both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Colleagues

Al'tshuler, B. L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Benedek, George Bernard, 1928-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bertsch, George F.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Birgeneau, Robert J. (Robert Joseph), 1942-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Bitter, Francis, 1902-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Buechner, William W. (William Weber), 1914-1985

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Burstein, Elias, 1917-2017

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Callen, Herbert B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Coppi, B.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Davidson, Ronald C.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Dresselhaus, M. S.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Enge, Harald A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Frank, Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Herman), 1903-1984

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Glimm, James

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Goldstone, Jeff Alan

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Guth, Alan H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Haurwitz, Bernhard

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jackiw, Roman W.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jackson, John David, 1925-2016

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Joannopoulos, J. D. (John D.), 1947-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kaspi, Victoria Michelle, 1967-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kastner, Marc A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ketterle, Wolfgang

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Keyes, Frederick G. (Frederick George), 1885-1976

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Klein, Martin J.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kleppner, Daniel

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Kraushaar, William L.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lax, Benjamin

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lee, P. A. (Patrick A.), 1946-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Lieb, Elliott H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Low, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1921-2007

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Moniz, E.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Morrison, Philip

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Orowan, E. (Egon), 1902-1989

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Page, Lyman A.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Phillips, William D. (William Daniel), 1948-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Porkolab, Miklos

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Randall, Lisa

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rasmussen, Norman C.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Read, Nicholas

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Rossi, Bruno, 1905-1993

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Schulz, George J., 1925-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Shull, Clifford Glenwood

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Spruch, Larry

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stanley, H. Eugene (Harry Eugene), 1941-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Stratton, Julius Adams, 1901-1994

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Ting, S. C. C. (Samuel Chao-chung), 1936-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Townes, Charles H.

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Van de Graaf, Robert Jemison, 1901-1967

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weiss, Rainer

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

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

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Wilczek, Frank

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Zener, Clarence, 1905-

Both employed at the City College of New York.

Zinn, Walter H. (Walter Henry), 1906-2000

Both employed at the City College of New York.

Additional

Frauenfelder, Hans, 1922-

Geesaman, Donald F.

Ingard, K. Uno

King, John, 1925-2014

Sakharov, Andreĭ, 1921-1989

Serber, R. (Robert)

Institutions

Major Positions

College of the City of New York (1926-1961). City College. Physics Department

Obtained SB and Tutor in Physics.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1942). Instructor in Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Theoretical Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics; Institute Professor; and Institute Professor Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Vice President Class I and President.

American Physical Society

Chair, Division of Nuclear Physics; Divisional Councilor, Division of Nuclear Physics; Member, Executive Committee, Council; received 1973 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics; and President.

Associated Universities, Inc.

Member, Board of Trustees.

Elsevier Science Publishers

Feshbach and Philip Morse co-founded the Annals of Physics and Chief Editor.

Federation of American Scientists

Member, National Council.

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

Chair, Nuclear Physics Division.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

National Research Council (U.S.)

Member, Committee on Nuclear Science; Member, Physics Survey Committee; Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on Data Compilation; Member, Committee on Government-University Relationship in Support of Science; and Member-at-Large (Nuclear Physics), U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

National Science Foundation (U.S.)

Chair, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee.

United States. Department of Energy

Chair, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee.

Universiṭat Tel-Aviv

Member, Board of Governors.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Member, Advisory Board.

Weizmann Institute of Science

Member, Board of Governors.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Nuclear Sciences 46th anniversary symposium [videorecording], 1992 May 14-15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Andrei Sakharov papers, 1852-2002 (bulk 1960-1990).

Houghton Library

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

Hans Frauenfelder response to survey on the impact of immigration on U.S. physics, 1999.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Donald F. Geesaman, 2013 July 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John G. King, 2009 November 17.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with K. Uno Ingard, 2007 July 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Serber, 1967 February 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

In honor of Philip M. Morse. Editors Herman Feshbach and K. Uno Ingard.

Preludes in theoretical physics, in honor of V.F. Weisskopf; [essays] edited by A. de-Shalit, H. Feshbach [and] L. van Hove.

Subject

"Herman Feshbach: 1917-2000", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences.

Herman Feshbach Physics Today obituary.

Methods of theoretical physics / [by] Philip M. Morse [and] Herman Feshbach.

Niels Bohr, physics and the world : proceedings of the Niels Bohr Centennial Symposium, Boston, MA, USA, November 12-14, 1985, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, Massachusetts / edited by Herman Feshbach, Tetsuo Matsui, Alexandra Oleson.

Theoretical nuclear physics / Amos deShalit, Herman Feshbach.