J. R. Schrieffer

Biography

Abstract

Robert Schrieffer is Professor Emeritus and Eminent Scholar at Florida State University (2006-present). Other institutional affiliations include the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Chicago, Urbana-Champaign. Together with John Bardeen and Leon Cooper, Schrieffer developed the theory of superconductivity, for which they won the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Important Dates

May 31, 1931Birth, Oak Park (Ill.).

1953Obtained BS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge (Mass.).

1954Obtained MS, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Ill.).

1957Obtained PhD in Physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Ill.).

1957 – 1958National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow, University of Birmingham and Institute of Theoretical Physics, Copenhagen.

1957 – 1960Assistant Professor of Physics, University of Chicago.

1959 – 1962Assistant Professor to Associate Professor, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana (Ill.).

1962 – 1979Professor (1962-1964) and Mary Amanda Wood Professor (1964-1979), University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Pa.).

1967 – 1973Andrew A. White Professor at Large, Cornell University.

1968Awarded Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, American Physical Society.

1971Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1972Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen and Leon Cooper "for their jointly developed theory of superconductivity, usually called the BCS-theory".

1979 – 1982Member (1979-1982) and Chair (1980-1981), Advisory Board, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

1979 – 2006Faculty Fellow, Exxon Corporation.

1980 – 1997Professor (1980-1984) and Chancellor Professor (1984-1997), University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara (Calif.).

1983Awarded National Medal of Science.

1984 – 1991Director (1984-1989) and Member (1984-1991), Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara.

1991 – 2006Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory.

1992 – 2006Chief Scientist, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Tallahassee (Fla.).

1992 – 2019University Eminent Scholar Professor (1992-2006) and Professor Emeritus and Eminent Scholar (2006-present), Florida State University, Tallahassee (Fla.).

1996President, American Physical Society.

July 27, 2019Death, Tallahassee (Fla.).

Occupation

Physicist.

Places

Birth

Oak Park (Ill.)

Undergraduate Education

Cambridge (Mass.)

Graduate Education

Urbana (Ill.)

Employment

Philadelphia (Pa.)

Santa Barbara (Calif.)

Tallahassee (Fla.)

Subjects

Superconductivity.

Relationships

People

Family

Schrieffer, Ann Grete Thomsen

Wife. Married in 1960.

Schrieffer, Bolette

Daughter.

Schrieffer, John H.

Father.

Schrieffer, Louise Anderson

Mother.

Schrieffer, Paul

Son.

Schrieffer, Regina

Daughter.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bardeen, John

PhD advisor at University of Illiois, Urbana-Champaign, Theory of Superconductivity. Shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics with Leon Cooper for co-developing the BCS theory of superconductivity. Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Cooper, Leon N. (Leon Neil), 1930-

Shared the 1972 Nobel Prize in Physics with John Bardeen for co-developing the BCS theory of superconductivity. Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Scalapino, Douglas J.

Advised by Schrieffer at University of Pennsylvania, and both employed at University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Santa Barbara.

Colleagues

Ahlers, G. (Günter)

Both employed at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Almy, Gerald Marks, 1904-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Anderson, A. C. (Ansel Cochran), 1933-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Anderson, Herbert Lawrence

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Awschalom, D. (David)

Both employed at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Burstein, Elias, 1917-2017

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Callen, Herbert B.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Chaikin, Paul M.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Cohen, Morrel H.

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Crewe, Albert V.

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Frauenfelder, Hans, 1922-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Fritzsche, Hellmut

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Ginsberg, Donald M.

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Hartle, J. B. (James B.)

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Heeger, Alan J.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Santa Barbara.

Horowitz, Gary T., 1955-

Both employed at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Jackson, John David, 1925-2016

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kadanoff, Leo P.

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kirtley, John R.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Kivelson, Steven

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Santa Barbara.

Klein, Miles V., 1933-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Kohn, Walter, 1923-2016

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Koshiba, Masatoshi, 1926-2020

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Langenberg, D. N., 1932-

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Langer, James S.

Both employed at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Lazarus, David, 1921-

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Louie, Steven G., 1949-

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Lubensky, T. C.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Middleton, Roy, 1927-2004

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Mulliken, Robert Sanderson

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Nambu, Yoichiro, 1921-2015

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Novick, Robert

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Peale, Stanton Jerrold

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Pinczuk, Aron

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Plummer, E. Ward

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Polchinski, Joseph Gerard

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Primakoff, H. (Henry), 1914-1983

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Sciulli, Frank J.

Both employed at University of Pennsylvania.

Seitz, Frederick, 1911-2008

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Simmons, Ralph Oliver

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Simpson, John A. (John Alexander), 1916-2000

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Slichter, Charles P.

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Strominger, Andrew Eben

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Stubbs, Christopher

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Szilard, Leo

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Telegdi, Val, 1922-2006

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Wentzel, Gregor, 1898-1978

Both employed at University of Chicago.

Wheatley, John Charles

Both employed at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Wilczek, Frank

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Witherell, Michael S., 1949-

Both employed at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Additional

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

Bohr, Niels, 1885-1962

Brueckner, Keith A.

Conwell, Esther M. (Esther Marley), 1922-2014

Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918-1988

Heisenberg, Werner, 1901-1976

Hoddeson, Lillian

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

Pines, David, 1924-2018

Ramsey, Norman, 1915-2011

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

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Zewail, Ahmed H.

Institutions

Major Positions

Florida State University

University Eminent Scholar Professor; Professor Emeritus; and Eminent Scholar.

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory

Chief Scientist.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Department of Physics

Professor and Chancellor Professor.

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Assistant Professor of Physics.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Department of Physics

Obtained MS (1954) and PhD (1957). Assistant Professor to Associate Professor.

University of Pennsylvania. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Professor and Mary Amanda Wood Professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Physical Society

President and received 1968 Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize.

Cornell University. Department of Physics

Andrew A. White Professor at Large.

Exxon Mobil Corporation

Faculty Fellow.

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Fellow.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1953).

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member.

Niels Bohr institutet

National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow.

University of Birmingham. Department of Physics

National Science Foundation (NSF) Fellow.

University of California, Santa Barbara. Institute for Theoretical Physics

Director; Member; Member, Advisory Board; and Chair, Advisory Board.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

John Bardeen Memorial Symposium [videorecording] / 1992 March 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Lillian Hoddeson papers, 1904-2001.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with John Robert Schrieffer, 1974 September 26 and 1976 January 19.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

John Bardeen papers, 1910-1991.

University Libraries.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

1408 West Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Nobel prize in physics [motion picture] / filmed by Swedish Broadcasting Corporation.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with David Pines, 1981 April 13 and 16.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Esther Conwell, 2007 January 22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Eugene Paul Wigner, 1981 January 24.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with P. W. Anderson [videorecording] : 1999-2002.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

"The Road to BCS," in BCS: 50 Years, ed. Leon N. Cooper and Dmitri Feldman (Singapore: World Scientific: 2011), 21-32

Theory of superconductivity [by] J.R. Schrieffer.

Subject

National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Profile

Nobel Prize Biography