| 1 | Name: | Dr. Charles H. Townes | |
| Institution: | University of California, Berkeley | ||
| Year Elected: | 1960 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 106. Physics | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1915 | ||
| Death Date: | January 27, 2015 | ||
Dr. Charles H. Townes was a staff member of Bell Laboratories, Professor of Physics at Columbia University, Vice President of the Institute of Defense Analysis, Provost at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University Professor of Physics at the University of California. His principal scientific work was in microwave spectroscopy, nuclear and molecular structure, quantum electronics, radio astronomy, and infrared astronomy. He received the Nobel Prize in 1964 for invention of the maser and laser. During much of his career, Dr. Townes served as a government advisor. He was vice-chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee and chairman of the technical advisory committee for the Apollo Program. He had been involved in the National Academy of Science's contacts with China, work on Arms Control, meetings with the Soviet Academy, and in the Pontifical Academy. Since the mid 1960's Dr. Townes had been active in discussions of the interactions between science and religion and has written extensively on this subject. Charles Townes died January 27, 2015, at the age of 99. | |||