Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1915, July 28 | Born, Greenville, S.C. |
| 1935 | B.A., modern languages, and B.S., physics, Furman University, Greenville, S.C. |
| 1937 | M.A., physics, Duke University, Durham, N.C. |
| 1939 | Ph.D., physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. |
| 1939-1947 | Technical staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories, New Jersey, including design and development of radar bombing and navigation systems for Allied bombers |
| 1941 | Married Frances Hildreth Brown |
| 1948-1961 | Professor, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.; associate professor of physics, 1948-1950; appointed professor of physics, 1950; executive director, Columbia Radiation Laboratory, 1950-1952; chairman, Physics Department, 1952-1955; on sabbatical in Europe and Japan, 1955-1956; on leave as vice president and director of research to the Institute for Defense Analyses, 1959-1961 |
| 1953 | Successfully tested first practical maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) device |
| 1955 | Published with Arthur L. Schawlow, Microwave Spectroscopy. New York: McGraw-Hill |
| 1955-1956 | Guggenheim fellow and Fulbright lecturer, University of Paris, Paris, France, and University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan |
| 1958 | Introduced with Arthur L. Schawlow, concept of the optical maser (laser) |
| 1959 | Awarded Patent No. 2,879,439 for production of electromagnetic energy (basic maser patent) |
| 1959-1961 | Vice president and director of research, Institute for Defense Analyses, Washington, D.C. |
| 1959-1969 | Consultant, President's Scientific Advisory Committee; member, 1966-1969 |
| 1960 | Awarded with Arthur L. Schawlow, Patent No. 2,929,922 for maser and maser communication systems (basic laser patent) |
| 1961-1966 | Provost and professor of physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. |
| 1963 | Scott lecturer, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada |
| 1964 | Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics with N. G. Basov and A. M. Prokhorov for contributions to fundamental work in quantum electronics leading to the development of the maser and laser |
| 1964-1970 | Chairman, Science and Technology Advisory Committee for Manned Space Flight, National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| 1966-1985 | Member, Board of Directors, Perkin-Elmer Corp. |
| 1967 | President, American Physical Society |
| 1967-2014 | Professor, University of California, Berkeley, Calif.; professor of physics, 1967-1986; professor emeritus of physics, 1986-1994; professor in the graduate school, 1994-2014 |
| 1973-1986 | Director, General Motors Corp. |
| 1976-1977 | Member, President's Advisory Committee on Science and Technology |
| 1995 | Published Making Waves. Woodbury, N.Y.: American Institute of Physics |
| 1999 | Published How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist. New York: Oxford University Press |
| 2002 | Awarded inaugural Trotter Prize, Texas A&M University, College Station, Tex. |
| 2005 | Awarded Templeton Foundation Prize for contributions to the understanding of religion |
| 2012 | Awarded inaugural Golden Goose Award in recognition of the unexpected impact of his study of molecular and atomic spectroscopy |
| 2015, Jan. 27 | Died, Oakland, Calif. |