Robert E. Marshak

Biography

Abstract

Robert E. Marshak was Emeritus University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1979–1992). Other institutional affiliations included City University of New York and the University of Rochester. His research interests included nuclear physics and astrophysics.

Important Dates

October 11, 1916Birth, New York (N.Y.).

1936Obtained AB, Columbia University, New York (N.Y.).

1939Obtained PhD (Physics), Cornell University, Ithaca (N.Y.).

1939 – 1970Instructor to Professor of Physics (1939-1950); Harris Professor of Physics (1950-1964); Chair, Department of Physics (1950-1964); and Distinguished University Professor (1964-1970), University of Rochester, Rochester (N.Y.).

1942 – 1943Physicist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Radiation Laboratory.

1943 – 1944Physicist, Montreal Branch, United Kingdom Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

1944 – 1946Deputy Group Leader, Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

1948Member, Institute for Advanced Study.

1953 – 1954Guggenheim Fellow, University of Paris, Sorbonne.

1957 – 1963Secretary, High Energy Physics Commission, International Union for Pure and Applied Physics.

1958Member, National Academy of Sciences.

1960 – 1961Guggenheim Fellow and Guest Professor, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

1963 – 1966Member, Committee on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, National Academy of Sciences.

1967 – 1975Member, Science Council, International Center for Theoretical Physics.

1968 – 1972Member, United States-Japan Science Committee.

1970 – 1979President, City College, City University of New York, New York (N.Y.).

1971 – 1973Member, Executive Committee, United States National Commission, UNESCO.

1971 – 1974Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences.

1979 – 1992University Distinguished Professor (1979-1987) and Emeritus University Distinguished Professor (1987-1992), Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg (Va.).

1983President, American Physical Society.

December 23, 1992Death, Cancun (Mexico).

Occupation

Nuclear physicist.

Places

Birth

New York (N.Y.)

Undergraduate Education

New York (N.Y.)

Graduate Education

Ithaca (N.Y.)

Employment

Rochester (N.Y.)

New York (N.Y.)

Blacksburg (Va.)

Death

Cancun (Mexico)

Subjects

Astrophysics.

Cyclotrons.

Mesons.

Nuclear forces (Physics).

Nuclear physics.

Weak interactions (Nuclear physics).

Relationships

People

Family

Marshak, Ann

Daughter.

Marshak, Harry

Father

Marshak, Rose

Mother.

Marshak, Ruth Gup

Wife. Married 1943.

Marshak, Stephen, 1955-

Son.

Advisors & Collaborators

Bethe, Hans A. (Hans Albrecht), 1906-2005

PhD advisor at Cornell University, "Energy Production in White Dwarf Stars."

Bose, S. K. (Samir Kumar), 1934-

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Some applications of dispersion relations; decay of strongly interacting particles, effect of pion resonances on the properties of kaons and pions."

Greene, J. M. (John M.), 1928-

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Higher-Order Corrections to the Nucleon-Nucleon Potential in Charge-Symmetric Pseudoscalar Theory."

Guralnik, G.

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester.

Kaplon, Morton F.

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Meson Production."

Mohapatra, R. N. (Rabindra Nath)

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Part I: Generalized superconvergence sum rules and applications. Part II: Structure of weak interaction at high energy."

Regge, Tullio

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "On the properties of spin 2 particles."

Schnitzer, Howard J.

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Pion production and the second pion-nucleon resonance."

Sudarshan, E. C. G.

Advised by Marshak at University of Rochester, "Part I: The masses and electromagnetic properties of isotopic multiplets. Part II. The nature of the weak interactions and the decay of strange particles."

Colleagues

Agnew, Harold M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Anderson, Herbert Lawrence

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Barschall, H. H. (Henry Herman), 1915-1997

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bederson, Benjamin

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Bromley, D. Allan (David Allan), 1926-2005

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Case, Kenneth M.

Both employed at University of Rochester and Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Chamberlain, O. (Owen)

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Corson, Dale R.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Cummins, Herman Z., 1933-

Both employed at City University of New York.

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at the Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

DuBridge, Lee A. (Lee Alvin), 1901-1994

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Duffield, Robert B.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Lax, Melvin J.

Both employed at City University of New York.

Mandel, Leonard

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Mayer, Maria Goeppert, 1906-1972

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

McDaniel, Boyce D. (Boyce Dawkins), 1917-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Montroll, E. W.

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Panofsky, Wolfgang K. H. (Wolfgang Kurt Hermann), 1919-2007

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Rieser, Leonard M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Sarachik, Myriam P.

Both employed at City University of New York.

Schiff, Leonard I. (Leonard Isaac), 1915-1971

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Swinney, H. L., 1939-

Both employed at City University of New York.

Turkevich, Anthony, 1916-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Weisskopf, Victor Frederick, 1908-2002

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Wiesner, Jerome B. (Jerome Bert), 1915-1994

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

York, Herbert F. (Herbert Frank)

Both employed at University of Rochester.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Additional

Bacher, Robert F. (Robert Fox), 1905-2004

Chandrasekhar, S. (Subrahmanyan), 1910-1995

Dunham, Theodore, 1897-1984

Einstein, Albert, 1879-1955

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

Gell-Mann, Murray

Joliot-Curie, Frédéric

Klein, Oskar

Livingston, M. Stanley (Milton Stanley)

Oppenheimer, J. Robert, 1904-1967

Pegram, George Braxton, 1876-1958

Pegram taught Marshak at Columbia University.

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

Schwinger, Julian, 1918-1994

Tamm, I. E. (Igor' Evgen'evich), 1895-1971

Teller, Edward, 1908-2003

Veksler, V. I. (Vladimir losifovich)

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Institutions

Major Positions

City University of New York. City College

President.

Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (United Kingdom)

Physicist, Montreal Branch.

European Organization for Nuclear Research

Guggenheim Fellow and Guest Professor.

Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, N.J.)

Member.

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Deputy Group Leader, Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Deputy Group Leader, Los Alamos Laboratory.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Radiation Laboratory

Physicist.

University of Rochester. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Instructor to Professor of Physics; Harris Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics; and Distinguished University Professor.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Department of Physics

University Distinguished Professor and Emeritus University Distinguished Professor.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

American Institute of Physics

American Physical Society

President.

City University of New York. City College. Physics Department

Columbia University. Department of Physics

Obtained AB (1936).

Cornell University. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD in Physics (1939).

International Centre for Theoretical Physics

Member, Science Council.

International Union of Pure and Applied Physics

Secretary, High Energy Physics Commission.

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory

National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)

Member, Committee on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, National Academy of Sciences; Member, Council; and Member.

New York University. Department of Physics

Unesco

Member, Executive Committee, United States National Commission.

United States-Japan Committee on Scientific Cooperation

Member.

Universite de Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne

Guggenheim Fellow.

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Notes on physics courses given at Los Alamos, 1943-1946.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Nuclear Pioneers: Conference on Nuclear Developments videotapes and papers, 1991.

Carol M. Newman Library. Special Collections Department

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

P. O. Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001, USA

Oral history interview with Robert Marshak, 1970 June 15, 16, September 19, and October 4.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert E. Marshak papers [microform], 1947-1988.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Selected papers [sound recording], 1967.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Symposium honoring Lee Alvin DuBridge [sound recording] / 1984 September 21-22.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Subject

Department of Physics records, 1898-1998 (bulk 1960-1985).

Archives and Special Collections

City College of the City University of New York

North Academic Center, New York, NY 10031, USA

Igor E. Tamm papers, 1921-1971.

In private hands

Murray Gell-Mann papers, 1931-2001 (bulk 1955-1993).

Institute Archives

California Institute of Technology

1201 East California Blvd. (Mail Code 015A-74), Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

Oral history interview with Milton Stanley Livingston, 1967 August 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oral history interview with Wolfgang Panofsky, 2004 April 7, 8, 9 and May 3.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Oskar Klein papers, 1916-1970.

Niels Bohr Archive

Blegdamsvej 17, Copenhagen, Denmark

Reminiscences at Robert Marshak's sixtieth birthday banquet [sound recording], 1977 January 21.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Robert Marshak papers, 1947-1992.

Carol M. Newman Library. Special Collections Department

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

P. O. Box 90001, Blacksburg, VA 24062-9001, USA

Rochester Conference on High Energy Nuclear Physics proceedings, 1952 and 1955.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Theodore Dunham papers, 1926-1977 (bulk 1926-1955).

Henry E. Huntington Library

1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108, USA

V. I. Veksler papers, 1907-1966.

Archive

Russian Academy of Sciences

ul. Novocheremushkinskaia, 34, Moscow, 117218, Russia

Virginia Tech Video History on Nuclear Developments, 1945-1963, [videorecording] / recorded by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ; moderated by Albert E. Moyer and Paul E. Torgersen ; 1991 August 29, 30.

Niels Bohr Library & Archives

American Institute of Physics

One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA

Published Resources

Author

"Particle Physics in Rapid Transition: 1947-1952," in The Birth of Particle Physics, ed. Laurie M. Brown and Lillian Hoddeson (New York: Cambridge University Press: 1983), 376-401

"Scientific Impact of the First Decade of the Rochester Conferences (1950-1960)," in Pions to Quarks: Particle Physics in the 1950s, ed. Laurie M. Brown, Max Dresden, and Lillian Hoddeson (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 1989), 645-667

"The Rochester Conferences: The Rise of International Cooperation in High Energy Physics," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists June (1970): 92-98.

Conceptual foundations of modern particle physics / Robert E. Marshak.

Five decades of weak interactions / edited by N. P. Chang.

Introduction to elementary particle physics [by] R.E. Marshak and E.C.G. Sudarshan.

Meson physics.

Perspectives in modern physics. Essays in honor of Hans A. Bethe on the occasion of his 60th birthday, July, 1966. Edited by R. E. Marshak, with the assistance of J. Warren Blaker.

Subject

"Robert Eugene Marshak: 1916-1992",Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences

A Gift of Prophecy: Essays in Celebration of the Life of Robert Marshak (New Jersey: World Scientific, 1994)

Robert E. Marshak Physics Today obituary.

Theory of weak interactions in particle physics / Robert E. Marshak, Riazuddin, Ciaran P. Ryan.