Charles Christian Lauritsen

Dates

April 4, 1892 – April 13, 1968

Authorized Form of Name

Lauritsen, Charles Christian, 1892-1968

Biography

Abstract

Charles Christian Lauritsen was Emeritus Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology (1930-1968). Other institutional affiliations included the Kennedy Radio Corporation and the Federal Telegraph Company. His research interests included radiative capture and x-rays.

Important Dates

April 4, 1892Birth, Holstebro (Denmark).

1911Obtained Architecture degree, Odense Technical School, Odense (Denmark).

1911 – 1912Infantryman, Danish Infantry.

1914 – 1915Infantryman, Danish Infantry.

1919 – 1921Engineer, Ohio Body and Blower Company.

1921 – 1923Radio Engineer, Federal Telegraph Company.

1923 – 1926Chief Engineer, Kennedy Radio Corporation.

1929Obtained PhD in Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1930 – 1968Assistant Professor of Physics (1930-1931); Associate Professor of Physics (1931-1935); Professor of Physics (1935-1962); and Emeritus Professor of Physics (1962-1968), California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (Calif.).

1940 – 1942Vice Chair, Division A (Armor and Ordnance), National Defense Research Committee.

1941Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1942Chair, Division 3, Section L, National Defense Research Committee, Office of Scientific Research and Development.

1950 – 1951Project Vista, California Institute of Technology, United States Air Force.

1950 – 1951Member, Long Range Objectives Panel, Committee on Atomic Energy, Research and Development Board, United States Department of Defense.

1951President, American Physical Society.

1952 – 1957Member, Science Advisory Committee, United States Office of Defense Mobilization.

1967Awarded Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society.

April 13, 1968Death.

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Subjects

Nuclear astrophysics.

Nuclear physics.

Particle accelerators.

Radiative capture.

X-rays.

Relationships

People

Family

Lauritsen, Eric

Grandson.

Lauritsen, Sigrid Henriksen

Wife.

Lauritsen, Thomas, 1915-1973

Son; advised by Charles Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Construction of a pressure Van de Graaff generator and its application to nuclear physics;" and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Press, Margaret Ann Lauritsen

Granddaughter.

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.

Crane, H. R. (Horace Richard), 1907-2007

Advised by Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Artificial Radioactivity," and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Fowler, William A.

Advised by Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Radioactive elements of a low atomic number," and both employed at California Institute of Technology.

Kavanagh, Ralph William

Advised by Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Scintillation and magnetic spectrometer studies of nuclear reactions."

Millikan, Robert Andrews, 1868-1953

PhD advisor at California Institute of Technology, "Electron emission from metals in intense electron fields," and both employed there.

Oppenheimer, Frank, 1912-1985

Advised by Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Beta ray spectra."

Tollestrup, Alvin

Advised by Lauritsen at California Institute of Technology, "Precision determination of the energy released in nuclear reactions in the light elements," and both employed at California Institute of Technology.