Polykarp Kusch

Dates

January 26, 1911 – March 20, 1993

Authorized Form of Name

Kusch, Polykarp, 1911-1993

Biography

Abstract

Polykarp Kusch was Emeritus Regental Professor of Physics at the University of Texas, Dallas (1972-1993). Other institutional affiliations included Columbia University and Bell Laboratories. His research interests included molecular beam magnetic resonance experiments and atomic and nuclear spins.

Important Dates

January 26, 1911Birth, Bad Blankenburg (Germany).

1931Obtained BS, Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland (Ohio).

1933Obtained MS, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Ill.).

1936Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Ill.).

1936 – 1937Assistant in Physics, University of Minnesota.

1937 – 1944Instructor in Physics (1937-1941) and Scientist, Division of War Research (1942-1944), Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1941 – 1942Development Engineer, Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company.

1944 – 1946Researcher, Bell Telephone Laboratories.

1946 – 1972Associate Professor of Physics (1946-1949); Professor of Physics (1949-1972); Chair, Department of Physics (1949-1952); Executive Director, Columbia Radiation Laboratory (1952-1960); Chair, Department of Physics (1960-1963); Vice President and Dean of Faculty (1969-1970); and Executive Vice President and Provost (1970-1971), Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1952 – 1957Consultant, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

1955Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics "for his precision determination of the magnetic moment of the electron".

1956Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1964 – 1965Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science, Stanford University.

1972 – 1993Professor of Physics (1972-1974); Eugene McDermott Professor (1974-1980); Regental Professor (1980-1982); and Emeritus Regental Professor of Physics (1982-1993), University of Texas, Dallas, Dallas (Tex.).

March 20, 1993Death, Dallas (Tex.).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Subjects

Relationships

People

Family

Kusch, Betty Pezzoni

Second wife. Married 1960.

Kusch, Edith Starr

First wife. Married 1935. Died 1959.

Kusch, Henrietta van der Haas

Mother.

Kusch, John Mathias

Father.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bolef, Dan I., 1921-

Advised by Kusch at Columbia University.

Commins, Eugene D.

Advised by Kusch at Columbia University, "Hyperfine structure of the metastable state of singly ionized Helium-3."

Eck, Thomas G.

Advised by Kusch at Columbia University.

Koenig, Seymour H.

Advised by Kusch at Columbia University, "The anomalous magnetic moment of the electron."

Loomis, F. W. (Francis Wheeler), 1889-1976

PhD advisor at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign "The Molecular Spectra of Caesium and Rubidium."

Schultz, Sheldon

Advised by Kusch at Columbia University, "Cross-sections for the excitation of the metastable 2S state of atomic hydrogen."

Tate, John T. (John Torrence), 1889-1950

Post doctoral advisor at University of Minnesota.

Colleagues

Anderson, Herbert Lawrence

Both employed at Columbia University.

Balluffi, R. W.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Bardeen, John

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

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

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Boehm, Felix

Both employed at Columbia University.

Booth, Eugene

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Brillouin, Léon, 1889-1969

Both employed at Columbia University.

Brown, Harold, 1927-2019

Both employed at Columbia University.

Buckley, Oliver Ellsworth, 1887-1959

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Clogston, Albert McCavour

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Condon, Edward Uhler, 1902-1974

Both employed at Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company.

Cummins, Herman Z., 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Cutler, Cassius Chapin

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Darlington, Sidney, 1906-1997

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Davis, Bergen, 1869-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Davisson, Clinton Joseph, 1881-1958

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Devons, Samuel

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both employed at Columbia University.

Feinberg, Gerald, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Fermi, Enrico, 1901-1954

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Fletcher, Harvey, 1884-1981

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Foley, Henry Michael, 1917-1982

Both employed at Columbia University.

Frosch, Robert A. (Robert Alan), 1928-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Goldhaber, Gerson

Both employed at Columbia University.

Hagstrum, Homer D.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Happer, William, 1939-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Henley, Ernest M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Herring, William Conyers, 1914-

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Hill, Edward Lee, 1904-1974

Both employed at University of Minnesota.

Hughes, Vernon W.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ives, Herbert Eugene, 1882-1953

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Javan, Ali, 1926-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kelly, Mervin Joe

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kinoshita, T. (Toichiro)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kittel, Charles

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Kraichnan, Robert H., 1928-2008

Both employed at Columbia University.

Kroll, Norman Myles, 1922-

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both won Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 for separate projects and both employed at Columbia University.

Lander, James J., 1914-1996

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Lederman, Leon M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Lee, T. D., 1926-

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both employed at Columbia University.

Luttinger, Joaquin M.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Mandelstam, Stanley

Both employed at Columbia University.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at Columbia University.

Nierenberg, William Aaron, 1919-2000

Both employed at Columbia University.

Novick, Robert

Both employed at Columbia University.

Nygren, David R.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Pearson, Gerald L. (Gerald Leondus)

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Both employed at Columbia University.

Pekeris, C. L. (Chaim Leib), 1908-1993

Both employed at Columbia University.

Peoples, John, Jr.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Pfann, William G.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Press, Frank, 1924-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rabi, I. I. (Isidor Isaac), 1898-1988

Both employed at Columbia University.

Rainwater, L. James (Leo James), 1917-1986

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

Both employed at Columbia University.

Ruderman, Malvin A.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Sachs, Allan M. (Allan Maxwell), 1921-1989

Both employed at Columbia University.

Samios, Nicholas P.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schawlow, Arthur L., 1921-1999

Both employed at Columbia University.

Schwartz, Melvin, 1932-2006

Both employed at Columbia University.

Serber, R. (Robert)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Shockley, William, 1910-1989

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories.

Steinberger, J.

Both employed at Columbia University.

Szilard, Leo

Both employed at Columbia University.

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

Both employed at Columbia University.

Thomas, Llewellyn Hilleth, 1903-1992

Both employed at Columbia University.

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

Both employed at Columbia University.

Townes, Charles H.

Both employed at Bell Telephone Laboratories and Columbia University.

Weinberg, Steven, 1933-

Both employed at Columbia University.

Wick, G. C. (Gian Carlo)

Both employed at Columbia University.

Williams, John H. (John Harry), 1908-

Both employed at University of Minnesota.

Wu, C. S. (Chien-shiung), 1912-1997

Both employed at Columbia University.

Additional

Bloch, Felix, 1905-

Broecker, Wallace S., 1931-

Gould, Gordon, 1920-2005

Oliver, J. E. (Jack Ertle), 1923-2011

Reich, Haskell Aaron, 1926-1983

Shankland, Robert S., 1908-

Institutions

Major Positions

Bell Telephone Laboratories

Researcher.

Columbia University

Vice President; Dean of Faculty; Executive Vice President; and Provost.

Columbia University. Division of War Research

Scientist.

Stanford University

Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science.

University of Minnesota. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Assistant in Physics.

University of Texas at Dallas. Department of Physics

Professor of Physics; Eugene McDermott Professor; Regental Professor; and Emeritus Regental Professor of Physics.

Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company

Development Engineer.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

Case Institute of Technology

Obtained BS (1931).

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Instructor in Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; and Executive Director, Columbia Radiation Laboratory.

IBM Research

Consultant.

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics

Obtained MS (1933) and PhD in Physics (1936).

Westinghouse Electric Corporation