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Biography
AbstractImportant DatesOccupationPlacesSubjectsRelationships
PeopleInstitutionsResources
Archival as AuthorArchival as SubjectPublished as AuthorPublished as SubjectWilliam A. Fowler
Dates
August 9, 1911 – March 14, 1995
Authorized Form of Name
Fowler, William A.
Additional Forms of Names
Fowler, W. A. (William A)
Fowler, William Alfred, 1911-1995
Biography
Abstract
William A. Fowler was Institute Professor of Physics Emeritus at the California Institute of Technology (1936-1995). His research interests included nucleosynthesis and astrophysics.
Important Dates
August 9, 1911Birth, Pittsburgh (Pa.).
1933Obtained BEngPhys, Ohio State University, Columbus (Ohio).
1936Obtained PhD in Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1936 – 1995Research Fellow in Nuclear Physics (1936-1939); Assistant Professor of Physics (1939-1942); Associate Professor of Physics (1942-1946); Professor of Physics (1946-1970); Scientific Director, Project Vista (1951-1952); Institute Professor of Physics (1970-1982); and Institute Professor of Physics Emeritus (1982-1995), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).
1941Researcher, Section T, Division 4, National Defense Research Committee.
1941 – 1945Assistant Director of Research, Section L, Division 3, National Defense Research Committee.
1944Technical Observer, Office of Field Services, Office of Scientific Research and Development.
1945Acting Supervisor, Naval Ordnance Test Station, United States Navy.
1946Fellow, American Physical Society.
1951 – 1952Scientific Director, Project Vista, California Institute of Technology.
1954 – 1955Guggenheim Fellow, Cambridge University.
1956Member, National Academy of Sciences.
1958 – 1961Member, Council, American Physical Society.
1961 – 1962Guggenheim Fellow, St. Johns College, Cambridge University.
1963Walker-Ames Professor of Physics, University of Washington.
1964Visitor, Cambridge University.
1965 – 1968Member, Council, American Physical Society.
1966Visiting Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
1968 – 1974Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation.
1970Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.
1970 – 1973Member, Space Science Board, National Academy of Sciences.
1971 – 1974Chair, Physics Section, National Academy of Sciences.
1974Awarded National Medal of Science.
1974 – 1977Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences.
1974 – 1980Member, Governing Board (1974-1980) and Member, Executive Committee (1975), American Institute of Physics.
1976President, American Physical Society.
1977 – 1980Member, Space Science Board, National Academy of Sciences.
1977 – 1981Chair (1977-1979) and Member (1977-1981), Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, United States Department of Energy and National Science Foundation.
1978 – 1980Member, Committee on US-Soviet Cooperation in Physics, National Academy of Sciences.
1981 – 1984Chair, Office of Physical Science, National Academy of Sciences.
1983Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe".
March 14, 1995Death, Pasadena (Calif.).
Occupation
Nuclear astrophysicist.
Places
Birth
Undergraduate Education
Graduate Education
Employment
Death
Subjects
Relationships
People
Advisors & Collaborators
Anderson, Carl D. (Carl David), 1905-1991
Collaborated on Caltech artillery rocket project for the Navy and both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Clayton, Donald D.
Advised by Fowler at California Institute of Technology.
Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968
PhD advisor at California Institute of Technology, "Radioactive elements of a low atomic number," and both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Michel, F. Curtis
PhD advisor at California Institute of Technology.
Mozer, Forrest S., 1929-
Advised by Fowler at California Institute of Technology in Space Plasma Physics.
Advised by Fowler at California Institute of Technology and both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Colleagues
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Barish, B. C. (Barry Clark), 1936-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Bonner, Tom Wilkerson, 1910-1961
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
DuMond, Jesse W. M. (Jesse William Monroe), 1892-1976
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Epstein, Paul S. (Paul Sophus), 1883-1966
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Gould, Roy W. (Roy Walter), 1927-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Hellwarth, Robert Willis, 1930-2021
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Houston, W. V. (William Vermillion), 1900-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Kaspi, Victoria Michelle, 1967-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Kimble, H. Jeff (Harry Jeffrey), 1949-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
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.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Robertson, H. P. (Howard Percy), 1903-1961
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Teukolsky, Saul A. (Saul Arno), 1947-
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Tolman, Richard C. (Richard Chace), 1881-1948
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Von Kármán, Theodore, 1881-1963
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Both employed at California Institute of Technology.
Additional
Arp, Halton C.
Barnes, C. A.
Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005
Bowen, Ira Sprague, 1898-1973
Burbidge, Geoffrey R.
Cameron, A. G. W. (Alastair Graham Walter), 1925-
Caughlan, Georgeanne Robertson, 1916-1994
Chandrasekhar, S. (Subrahmanyan), 1910-1995
Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007
Fraser, Lorence
Greenstein, Jesse L. (Jesse Leonard), 1909-2002
Hoyle, Fred, 1915-2001
Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985
Osterbrock, Donald E.
Page, Don N.
Peierls, Rudolf E. (Rudolf Ernst), 1907-1995
Plaskett, Harry Hemley, 1893-
Salpeter, Edwin E.
Strand, K. Aage (Kaj Aage), 1907-
Tombrello, Thomas A.
Urey, Harold Clayton, 1893-1981
Wagoner, Robert V.
Whaling, Ward, 1923-
Institutions
Major Positions
California Institute of Technology. Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy
Obtained PhD in Physics (1936). Research Fellow in Nuclear Physics; Assistant Professor of Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Scientific Director, Project Vista; Institute Professor of Physics; and Institute Professor of Physics Emeritus.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Visiting Professor of Physics.
United States. Council of National Defense. National Defense Research Committee
Assistant Director of Research, Section L, Division 3 and Researcher, Section T, Division 4.
United States. Navy. Bureau of Ordnance
Acting Supervisor, Naval Ordnance Test Station.
University of Washington. Department of Physics
Walker-Ames Professor of Physics.
Professional Activities & Affiliations
Member, Governing Board and Member, Executive Committee.
Member; Fellow; President; and received 1970 Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics.
National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)
Member; Member, Space Science Board; Chair, Physics Section; Member, Council; Member, Committee on US-Soviet Cooperation in Physics; and Chair, Office of Physical Science.
National Science Foundation (U.S.)
Member, National Science Board and Chair and Member, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee.
Ohio State University. Department of Physics
Obtained BEngPhys.
United States. Department of Energy
Chair and Member, Nuclear Science Advisory Committee.
United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development
Technical Observer, Office of Field Services.
University of Cambridge. Department of Physics
Guggenheim Fellow and Visitor, St. Johns College.
Resources
Archival Resources
Author
Deuteronomy [sound recording] : the synthesis of deuterons and the light nuclei during the early history of the solar system, 1961 February 2.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Distinguished Speaker Session [sound recording] 1976 April 28.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
General interest session of the Division of Nuclear Physics [sound recording], 1974 February 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Joint ceremonial session of the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers [sound recording], 1977 February 8.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Joint symposium of the Division of Astrophysics and the Forum for History of Physics [sound recording] / 1987 April 21 & 22.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Kip Thorne interviews conducted for his book "Black Holes and Time Warps," 1980-1989.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with William A. Fowler, 1983 May 3 - May 31, 1984.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Phyphty years of phun and physics in the W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory at Caltech, by Willy Phowler, 1982.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Symposium of the Division of Nuclear Physics [sound recording] : Thomas Lauritsen Memorial Session / 1974 April 24.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Washington University audiotape collection [sound recordings], 1946-1991.
Libraries. Special Collections
Washington University
Box 1061, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130-4899, USA
William A. Fowler papers, 1917-1995.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Subject
American Astronomical Society Historical Astronomy Division addition to records: obituary files, 1995-1998.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Charles C. Lauritsen papers, 1927-1977 (bulk 1946-1973).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Donald D. Clayton response to 1988 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1988.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Elmer Hutchisson papers, 1919-1982.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Georgeanne Caughlan response to 1988 History of Nuclear Physics Survey, 1988.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Kaj Strand 1895-1999 (bulk 1947-1977).
Manuscript Division
Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building, First Street and Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20540, USA
Lee A. DuBridge papers, 1932-1986.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Alastair G. W. Cameron, 2003 February 10.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Alvin Virgil Tollestrup, 1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Charles A. Barnes, 1987 July and August.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with David Schramm, 1988 March 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Don Page, 1988 May 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Donald E. Osterbrock, 2003 February 10.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Edwin Ernest Salpeter, 1978 March 30.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1973 February 9 and May 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Frank Oppenheimer, 1984 November 16.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Geoffrey Burbidge, 1975 June 4
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Geoffrey Burbidge, 1977 October 21.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Geoffrey R. Burbidge, 1974 November 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with H. R. Crane, 1973 March 28 and 1974 June 18.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Halton Christian Arp, 1975 July 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Hans Bethe, 1982, 1993.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Harry Hemley Plaskett, 1978 March 29.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Ira Bowen, 1968 August 9 and 1969 August 26.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Jesse Leonard Greenstein, 1974 July 31.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral History interview with Lorence Fraser, 1983 March 9.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Philip Morrison, 1967 February 7.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Robert F. Christy, 1994.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, 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
Oral history interview with Robert Serber, 1983 December 19.
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 Sir Fred Hoyle, 1989 August 15.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Thomas Lauritsen, 1967 February 16.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Oral history interview with Thomas Tombrello, 2010 December 26-31.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Ward Whaling, 1999 April-May.
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Oral history interview with Wolfgang Kurt Hermann Panofsky, 1973 May 15 and 1974 March 6 and June 3.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Physicists I have known, 1974.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Ralph P. Winch student notebooks, 1927-1931.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Thomas Lauritsen papers, 1922-1974 (bulk 1952-1973).
Institute Archives
California Institute of Technology
1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
William G. Wagner lecture notes, 1958-1962.
Niels Bohr Library & Archives
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA
Published Resources
Author
"A Conversation with William A. Fowler, Part I," Physics in Perspective 7 (2005): 66-106
"A Conversation with William A. Fowler, Part II," Physics in Perspective 7 (2005): 165-203
Nuclear astrophysics [by] William A. Fowler.
Nucleosynthesis in massive stars and supernovae, by William A. Fowler and F. Hoyle.