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Table of Contents

Biography

AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjects

Relationships

PeopleInstitutions

Resources

Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as Subject

Harvey Fletcher

Photo

Dates

September 11, 1884 – July 23, 1981

Authorized Form of Name

Fletcher, Harvey, 1884-1981

Biography

Abstract

Harvey Fletcher was Emeritus Professor of Physics at Brigham Young University (1952-1981). Other institutional affiliations included Columbia University and Bell Laboratories. His research interests included acoustics and atomic physics.

Important Dates

September 11, 1884Birth, Provo (Utah).

1907Obtained BS, Brigham Young University, Provo (Utah).

1911Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1911 – 1916Professor of Physics (1911-1916) and Head, Department of Physics (1911-1916), Brigham Young University, Provo (Utah).

1916 – 1928Engineer to Acoustics Researcher, Research Laboratories, Western Electric Company, New York (N.Y.).

1928 – 1949Director of Acoustical Research (1928-1933) and Director of Physical Research (1933-1949), Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill (N.J.).

1929 – 1931President, Acoustical Society of America.

1935Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1940 – 1942Chair, Section 5 (Sound Sources), Division C, National Defense Research Committee.

1945President, American Physical Society.

1949 – 1952Professor of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University.

1952 – 1981Director of Research (1952-1974); Dean, College of Physics and Engineering Sciences (1954-1957); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1974-1981), Brigham Young University, Provo (Utah).

July 23, 1981Death, Provo (Utah).

Occupation

Acoustical and atomic physicist.

Places

Birth

Provo (Utah)

Undergraduate Education

Provo (Utah)

Graduate Education

Chicago (Ill.)

Employment

Provo (Utah)

New York (N.Y.)

Murray Hill (N.J.)

Death

Provo (Utah)

Subjects

Atomic and molecular physics.

Auditory perception.

Brownian motion processes.

Electrons.

Sound.

Relationships

People

Family

Fletcher, James Chipman, 1919-1991

Son.

Advisors & Collaborators

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

Ph.D. advisor at University of Chicago and worked together on oil drop experiment.

Colleagues

Anderson, P. W. (Philip W.), 1923-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Bode, Hendrik W. (Hendrik Wade), 1905-1982

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Brattain, Walter H. (Walter Houser), 1902-1987

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Clogston, Albert McCavour

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Cutler, Cassius Chapin

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Darlington, Sidney, 1906-1997

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Dunning, John R. (John Ray), 1907-1975

Both employed at Columbia University.

Fisk, James B. (James Brown), 1910-1981

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Galt, John Kirtland, 1920-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hagstrum, Homer D.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hunsaker, Jerome C. (Jerome Clarke), 1886-1984

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Jewett, Frank B. (Frank Baldwin), 1879-1949

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kelly, Mervin Joe

Both employed at Western Electric Company and Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kittel, Charles

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kusch, Polykarp, 1911-1993

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lander, James J., 1914-1996

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Matthias, Bernd T., 1918-1980

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Pfann, William G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Suhl, Harry

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Townes, Charles H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Additional

Beranek, Leo L. (Leo Leroy), 1914-2016

Darrow, Karl K. (Karl Kelchner), 1891-

Hunt, Frederick V.

Hutchisson, Elmer, 1902-

Knudsen, Vern Oliver, 1893-1974

Michelson, Albert A. (Albert Abraham), 1852-1931

Newell, Homer E. (Homer Edward), 1915-1983

Nix, Foster Cary, 1905-

White, Addison Hughson, 1909-

Wooldridge, Dean E.

Zwislocki, Jozef J., 1922-

Institutions

Major Positions

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Director of Acoustical Research and Director of Physical Research.

Brigham Young University. College of Physical and Engineering Sciences

Dean.

Brigham Young University. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1907). Professor of Physics; Head, Department of Physics; Director of Research; and Emeritus Professor of Physics.

Columbia University. Department of Electrical Engineering

Professor of Electrical Engineering.

United States. Council of National Defense. National Defense Research Committee

Chair, Section 5 (Sound Sources), Division C.

Western Electric Company

Engineer to Acoustics Researcher, Research Laboratories.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Acoustical Society of America

President.

American Institute of Physics

Member, first Governing Board.

American Physical Society

President.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

United States. National Bureau of Standards

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1911).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

A talk with Harvey Fletcher [motion picture] / produced by Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Collection on Harvey Fletcher, 1947-1955.

Harold B. Lee Library. Special Collections Division.

Brigham Young University.

P.O. Box 26835, Provo, UT 84602-6835, USA

Harvey Fletcher autobiographical notes, 1956.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Harvey Fletcher correspondence on the naming of the Eyring Science Center, 1954.

Harold B. Lee Library. Special Collections Division.

Brigham Young University.

P.O. Box 26835, Provo, UT 84602-6835, USA

Harvey Fletcher papers, 1910-1954.

Harold B. Lee Library. Special Collections Division.

Brigham Young University.

P.O. Box 26835, Provo, UT 84602-6835, USA

Invited papers on physics today [sound recording], 1951 October.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Modern theory of hearing [sound recording] / 1964 May 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher, 1964 May 15.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Harvey Fletcher, 1979 May 9.

Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Annenberg Rare Book & Manuscript Library

University of Pennsylvania

3420 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206, USA

Twenty-fifth anniversary celebration [motion picture]

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Carl F. Eyring class notes, 1912-1913.

Harold B. Lee Library. Special Collections Division.

Brigham Young University.

P.O. Box 26835, Provo, UT 84602-6835, USA

Oral history interview Addison Hughson White, 1976 September 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Dean E. Wooldridge, 1976 August 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Foster Cary Nix, 1975 June 27.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Frederick Vinton Hunt, 1964 December 18 and 1965 January 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Gerald Leondus Pearson, 1976 August 23 and 8 April 1980.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Homer Edward Newell, 1980 July 17 and October 20.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Jozef Zwislocki, 2008 December 8.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Karl K. Darrow, 1964 April 2 and 10 June.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Leo Beranek, 2009 August 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vern Oliver Knudsen, 1964 May 18.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Vern Oliver Knudsen, 1966 December 20 to 1969 June 3. Teacher, researcher, and administrator: transcript.

University Research Library. Department of Special Collections

University of California, Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA 90024-1575, USA

Oral history interview with William Shockley, 1974 September 10.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

Speech and hearing / by Harvey Fletcher ... with an introduction by H.D. Arnold …

Subject

"Harvey Fletcher: 1884-1981", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

Harvey Fletcher Physics Today obituary.