Class
| • | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Sir Michael Atiyah | | | Institution: | University of Edinburgh | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1929 | | | Death Date: | January 11, 2019 | | | | | | |
One of the greatest mathematicians of his times, Sir Michael Atiyah made fundamental contributions to many areas of mathematics, but especially to topology, geometry and analysis. From his first major contribution - topological K-theory - to his later work on quantum field theory, Sir Michael has been influential in the development of new theoretical tools and has supplied far-reaching insights. He was a notable collaborator, with his name linked with other oustanding mathematicians through their joint research. He was awarded a Fields Medal in 1966 and was President of the Royal Society and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. A superb lecturer, he possesses the ability to explain sophisticated mathematics in a simple geometric way. Formerly a professor at both Oxford and Cambridge Universities and the Institute for Advanced Study, he was an inspiring teacher who instructed an outstanding group of former students. Sir Michael Atiyah was the recipient of many honors and awards, including election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1962, a knighthood in 1983 and the Order of Merit in 1992. He served as Chancellor of the University of Leicester from 1995-2005, as President of the Royal Society London from 1990-1995, as President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh from 2005-2008, and was later an Honorary Professor at Edinburgh University in Scotland. In 1993 he was awarded the American Philosophical Society's Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences. The citation read "in recognition of significant contributions to a remarkable range of mathematical topics, which established links between differential geometry, topology, and analysis; and creating useful mathematical tools for physicists." Sir Michael Atiyah died on January 11, 2019 at the age of 89. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Leo Esaki | | | Institution: | Tsukuba International Congress Center & University of Tsukuba | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 106. Physics | | | Residency: | International | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1925 | | | | | | |
Born in Osaka, Japan, physicist Leo Esaki has made many fundamental contributions pertaining to the physics of semiconductor materials. In his early work he demonstrated electron tunnelling in special semiconductor structures, which became known as tunnel or Esaki diodes. This work earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1973. In 1960 Dr. Esaki joined the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center, and became an IBM Fellow in 1967. More recently he helped establish the field of superlattice physics, creating a new class of artificial materials which display remarkable electronic properties. Known for his technical leadership and accomplishments, Dr. Esaki also possesses a strong interest in the interaction of science with societal issues on an international scale. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the National Academy of Science and the Japan Academy. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo in 1959 and has been awarded the Japanese Government Order of Culture and the American Physical Society's International Prize for New Material, among other honors. | |
| 3 | Name: | Dr. Anthony J. Leggett | | | Institution: | University of Illinois | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 106. Physics | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1938 | | | | | | |
Anthony J. Leggett is the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor and Center for Advanced Study Professor of Physics. He has been a faculty member at the University of Illinois since 1983 and in 2020 donated his papers to the University of Illinois Archives. He is widely recognized as a world leader in the theory of low-temperature physics, and his pioneering work on superfluidity was recognized by the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physics. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Russian Academy of Sciences (foreign member) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society (U.K.), the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics (U.K.) and was knighted (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 "for services to physics." Professor Leggett has shaped the theoretical understanding of normal and superfluid helium liquids and other strongly coupled superfluids. He set directions for research in the quantum physics of macroscopic dissipative systems and use of condensed systems to test the foundations of quantum mechanics. His research interests lie mainly within the fields of theoretical condensed matter physics and the foundations of quantum mechanics. He has been particularly interested in the possibility of using special condensed-matter systems, such as Josephson devices, to test the validity of the extrapolation of the quantum formalism to the macroscopic level; this interest has led to a considerable amount of technical work on the application of quantum mechanics to collective variables and in particular on ways of incorporating dissipation into the calculations. He is also interested in the theory of superfluid liquid 3He, especially under extreme nonequilibrium conditions, in high-temperature superconductivity, and in the newly realized system of Bose-condensed atomic gases. | |
| 4 | Name: | Dr. Donald E. Osterbrock | | | Institution: | University of California, Santa Cruz | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1924 | | | Death Date: | January 11, 2007 | | | | |
| 5 | Name: | Dr. Philip W. Anderson | | | Institution: | Princeton University | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 106. Physics | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1923 | | | Death Date: | March 29, 2020 | | | | | | |
One of the giants of the theory of condensed matter physics, Philip W. Anderson was born in Indiana in 1923. He went to Harvard University for his undergraduate and graduate work, where he studied under John Hausbrouck van Vleck. In 35 years as a physicist at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, Dr. Anderson worked on a wide variety of problems in condensed matter physics. He was awarded the 1977 Nobel Prize for his investigations into the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems, which allowed for the development of electronic switching and memory devices in computers. Dr. Anderson was a pioneer in the study of "Anderson localization" of electrons in disordered solids, the transitions between metallic and insulating states, and the concept of spin glasses. A theorist who always maintained close contact with experimentalists, he ranged from physics, through chemistry, to biology. Dr. Anderson was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1982. He served as Joseph Henry Professor of Physics at Princeton University. Philip W. Anderson died March 29, 2020 in Princeton, New Jersey at the age of 96. | |
| 6 | Name: | Dr. Robert M. White | | | Institution: | National Academy of Engineering & University Corporation for Atmospheric Research & H. John Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and Environment & Washington Advisory Group | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 105. Physical Earth Sciences | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1923 | | | Death Date: | October 14, 2015 | | | | | | |
Robert M. White advises on environment, energy, climate change, and development and management of organizations and research programs for the Washington Advisory Group, of which he was one of the founders and its first president. He was president of the National Academy of Engineering from 1983-95. Previously, he was president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), chief of the U.S. Weather Bureau, U.S. Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, U.S. Permanent Representative to the World Meteorological Organization, and the first Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Prior to government service, he founded one of the first corporations devoted to environmental science and services. | |
| 7 | Name: | Dr. Richard N. Zare | | | Institution: | Stanford University | | | Year Elected: | 1991 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 102. Chemistry and Chemical Biochemistry | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1939 | | | | | | |
The Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University, Richard N. Zare is renowned for his research in the area of laser chemistry, resulting in a greater understanding of chemical reactions at the molecular level. By experimental and theoretical studies he has made seminal contributions to our knowledge of molecular collision processes and contributed very significantly to solving a variety of problems in chemical analysis. His development of laser induced fluorescence as a method for studying reaction dynamics has been widely adopted in other laboratories. Dr. Zare has received numerous honors and awards for his research and his teaching, including the National Medal of Science (1983), the American Chemical Society's Harrison Howe Award (1985) and Willard Gibbs Medal (1990) and the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2005). He has given named lectures at numerous universities, authored and co-authored over 700 publications and more than 50 patents and published four books, including a popular textbook on the topic of angular momentum in quantum systems. A graduate of Harvard University (Ph.D., 1964), where he studied with Dudley Herschbach, Dr. Zare has previously served on the faculties of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado and Columbia University. A former chairman of the National Science Board, he was elected to the membership of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 1976. | |
| |