| 1 | Name: | Dr. Burton Richter | |
| Institution: | Stanford University; Stanford Linear Accelerator Center | ||
| Year Elected: | 2003 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 106. Physics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1931 | ||
| Death Date: | July 18, 2018 | ||
Burton Richter was the Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences at Stanford University and Director Emeritus of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center at the time of his death on July 18, 2018. Born in 1931 in New York, he received his B.S. and Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1952 and 1956, respectively. He began as a post doc at Stanford University in 1956, became a professor in 1967, and was director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center from 1984-99. His research centered on experimental particle physics with high-energy electrons and electron- positron colliding beams. After 1999 he devoted an increasing amount of time to issues relating to energy and sustainable development. Dr. Richter received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976, the E. O. Lawrence Medal of the Department of Energy in 1976, and the National Medal of Science in 2014. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences; a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Physical Society (president, 1994). He was president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 1999-2002 and served on many advisory committees to governments, laboratories and universities. He also served as a member of the Department of Energy's Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, Laboratory Operations Board, the Transmutation Subcommittee of the Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee, and the French Commissaire a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) Visiting Group. He was also a member of the Jason Group, and chaired the National Research Council's Board on Physics and Astronomy. He was interested in industry and its use of science and technology and had been a member of the General Motors Science Advisory Committee, chairman of the technology advisory board of an artificial intelligence company, a member of the Board of Directors of Varian Associates and Varian Medical Systems, and Litel Instruments and AREVA Enterprises, Inc. | |||