Leonard M. Rieser

Biography

Abstract

Leonard Rieser was Sherman Fairchild Professor Emeritus at Dartmouth College (1992-1998). His research interests included reflection of x-rays, x-ray microscopy; proportional counters, experimental nuclear physics and biophysics.

Important Dates

May 18, 1922Birth, Chicago (Ill.).

1940 – 1942Attended Dartmouth College, Hanover (N.H.).

1943Obtained BS, University of Chicago, Chicago (Ill.).

1944Assistant, Manhattan Project, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory.

1945 – 1946Assistant, Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Laboratory.

1952Obtained PhD in Physics, Stanford University, Stanford (Calif.).

1952 – 1998Instructor in Physics (1952-1957); Associate Professor of Physics (1957-1960); Chair, Department of Physics (1957-1959); Deputy Provost for the Sciences (1959-1964); Professor of Physics (1960-1981); Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (1964-1969); Provost (1967-1981); Dean, Faculty of Arts and Science and Vice President (1971-1982); Sherman Fairchild Professor in the Sciences (1981-1992); and Sherman Fairchild Professor Emeritus (1992-1998), Dartmouth College, Hanover (N.H.).

1961 – 1967Member, Grants Committee, Research Corporation.

1973President, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

1979 – 1983President, Interciencia Association.

1981 – 1985Chair, Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

1984 – 1996Member, Board of Trustees, Hampshire College.

1985 – 1998Chair, Board of Directors, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

1991 – 1997Consultant, John T. and Catherine D. Rockefeller Foundation.

1991 – 1998Member (1991-1998) and President (1996-1998), Board of Trustees, Montshire Museum of Science.

December 15, 1998Death, Lebanon (N.H.).

Occupation

Nuclear and atomic physicist.

Places

Birth

Chicago (Ill.)

Undergraduate Education

Hanover (N.H.)

Chicago (Ill.)

Graduate Education

Stanford (Calif.)

Employment

Hanover (N.H.)

Death

Lebanon (N.H.)

Subjects

Atomic and molecular physics.

Biophysics.

Nuclear disarmament.

Nuclear physics.

X-rays.

Relationships

People

Family

Rieser, Rosemary

Wife.

Colleagues

Agnew, Harold M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Allison, Samuel King, 1900-1965

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory and the 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.

Case, Kenneth M.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Chamberlain, O. (Owen)

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Christy, Robert F.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Corson, Dale R.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Creutz, E.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Daniels, Farrington, 1889-1972

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Dempster, Arthur Jeffrey

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Deutsch, Martin, 1917-2002

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Duffield, Robert B.

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Fitch, Val L., 1923-2015

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Franck, James, 1882-1964

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Glauber, Roy J., 1925-

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Goldberger, Marvin L.

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Hilberry, Norman, 1899-

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Marshak, Robert E. (Robert Eugene), 1916-1992

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

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.

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

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Seaborg, Glenn T. (Glenn Theodore), 1912-1999

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

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

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Szilard, Leo

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Turkevich, Anthony, 1916-2002

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory and Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Weinberg, Alvin Martin, 1915-2006

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

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

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Wigner, Eugene Paul, 1902-1995

Both employed at Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Zacharias, Jerrold Reinach, 1905-1986

Both employed at Los Alamos Laboratory, Manhattan Project.

Additional

Wilson, Robert R., 1914-2000

Institutions

Major Positions

Dartmouth College

Deputy Provost for the Sciences; Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Provost; and Vice President.

Dartmouth College. Department of Physics and Astronomy

Attended (1940-1942). Instructor in Physics; Associate Professor of Physics; Chair, Department of Physics, Professor of Physics; Sherman Fairchild Professor in the Sciences; and Sherman Fairchild Professor Emeritus.

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Assistant, Manhattan Project.

Manhattan Project (U.S.)

Assistant, Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory and Los Alamos Laboratory.

United States. Office of Scientific Research and Development. Metallurgical Laboratory

Assistant, Manhattan Project.

Professional Activities & Affiliations

American Association for the Advancement of Science

President and Chair, Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.

Asociación Interciencia

President.

Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Chair, Board of Directors.

Hampshire College

Member, Board of Trustees.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Consultant.

Montshire Museum of Science

Member and President, Board of Trustees.

Research Corporation

Member, Grants Committee.

Stanford University. Department of Physics

Obtained PhD (1952).

University of Chicago. Department of Physics

Obtained BS (1943).

Resources

Archival Resources

Author

Department of Physics and Astronomy records, 1959-

Rauner Special Collections Library

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755, USA

Leonard Rieser papers, 1960-1966.

Rauner Special Collections Library

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755, USA

Oral history interview with Leonard M. Rieser, 1996.

Rauner Special Collections Library

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH 03755, USA

Published Resources

Author

Natural philosophy at Dartmouth, from surveyors' chains to the pressure of light, by Sanborn C. Brown and Leonard M. Rieser.