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Charles H. Townes Bio 2013 Contact: University of California Department of Physics - M/C 7300 366 Le Conte Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7300 510-642-1128 [email protected] Professional History Assistant in Physics, California Institute of Technology 1937-39 Member of the Technical Staff, Bell Telephone Laboratories 1939-47 Associate Professor of Physics, Columbia University 1948-50 Professor of Physics, Columbia University 1950-61 Executive Director, Columbia Radiation Laboratory 1950-52 Chairman, Department of Physics, Columbia University 1952-55 Vice President and Director of Research, Institute for Defense Analyses 1959-61 Provost and Professor of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1961-66 Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1966-67 University Professor of Physics, University of California at Berkeley 1967-86 Professor of Physics, Emeritus, University of California at Berkeley 1986-94 Professor in the Graduate School, University of California at Berkeley 1994- Education: Furman University, B.A. and B.S. 1931-1935 Duke University, M.A. 1935-1936 California Institute of Technology, Ph.D. 1936-1939 Honors: Furman University, D. Litt. 1960 Clemson College, Sc.D. 1963 Wesleyan University, Sc.D. 1963 Columbia University, Sc.D. 1963 Swarthmore College, Sc.D. 1963 Polytechnic Institute of Milan, Dott. Ing. 1964 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Sc.D. 1964 Amherst College, Sc.D. 1964 New England College, LL.D. 1964 University of Notre Dame, LL.D. 1964 University of South Carolina, LL.D. 1965 Augustana College, L.H.D. 1965 Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ph.D. 1966 Gustavus Adolphus College, Sc.D. 1966 Duke University, Sc.D. 1966 University of Alberta, LL.D. 1966 Yeshiva University, Sc.D. 1967 New York University, Sc.D. 1967 Mercer University, LL.D. 1968 Carnegie-Mellon University, E.Eng. 1969 Medical University of South Carolina, D. Med. Sc. 1978 Honors: (continued) - 1 - Yale University, Sc.D. 1988 University of South Florida, L.H.D. 1989 University of Toronto, Sc.D. 1989 École Normale Supérieure, Doctorate Honoris Causa 1994 University of Pusan, Korea, Sc.D. 1997 Harvard University, Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science 2001 Honorary Doctorate of Human Letters, University of Redlands 2008 University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK, Honorary Doctor of Science 2011* Three U.S. universities – two in South Carolina and one in Florida – have named new science centers in honor his honor. October 2008 Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina dedicated its $62.5 million facility The Charles H. Towns Center for Science. The Center has a reading room named for his wife, Frances. The Charles H. Towns Laboratories for Optical Science and Technology at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina was also dedicated in 2008. The Towns Laser Institute at University of Central Florida’s College of Optics and Photonics in Orlando was dedicated in May 2007. Board of Editors Review of Scientific Instruments 1950-52 Physical Review 1951-53 Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy 1957-60 Columbia University Forum 1957-59 Journal of Missile Defense Research 1963-65 Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences 1995- Canadian Journal of Physics 1995- Professional Society Affiliations Fellow, The American Physical Society Member of the Council (1959-62, 1965-71; President, 1967) Life Fellow, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Member, National Academy of Sciences Member, The Physical Society of Japan Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Member, The American Philosophical Society Member, American Astronomical Society Member, American Association of Physics Teachers Member, American Geophysical Union Member, Société Royale des Sciences de Liège Member, Federation of American Scientists Member, Astronomical Society of the Pacific Associate Member, Institute of Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences Foreign Member, The Royal Society of London Member, American Association for the Advancement of Science Member, American Association of University Professors Member, Pontifical Academy of Sciences (Rome) Member, Committee on International Security and Arms Control (CISAC) Professional Society Affiliations (continued) Foreign Member, Max-Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics, Federal Republic of Germany - 2 - Member, Berkeley Fellows, University of California Member, The Optical Society of America Member National Academy of Engineering Member, Order of the Palmetto (South Carolina) Member, Council of the Institut de la Vie Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi Foreign Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India (Allahabad) Member and Vice President, The World Institute of Science Foreign Member, Russian Academy of Sciences Member, Cosmos Club Member, International Astronomical Union Member, The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. Member, American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery, Inc. Member, World Affairs Council Member, The Explorers Club Member, The International Society for Optical Engineering Awards Comstock Prize, National Academy of Sciences 1959 Stuart Ballantine Medal, The Franklin Institute 1959 David Sarnoff Award, Inst. Electrical & Electronics Engineers 1961 Rumford Medal, American Academy of Arts & Sciences 1961 Stuart Ballantine Medal, The Franklin Institute 1962 John J. Carty Medal, National Academy of Sciences 1962 Thomas Young Medal and Prize, The Institute of Physics and the Physical Society (England) 1963 Nobel Prize for Physics, Royal Academy of Science (Stockholm) 1964 Medal of Honor, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1966 Niels Bohr International Gold Medal (Denmark) 1976 National Inventors Hall of Fame 1976 South Carolina Hall of Science & Technology 1980 National Medal of Science, presented by President Ronald Regan 1982 Frederick Ives/Jarus W. Quinn Medal of the Optical Society of America 1996 Honorary Fellow, Rozhdestvensky Optical Society of Russia 1996 Honorary Life Member, New York Academy of Sciences 1996 Honorary Trustee, California Academy of Sciences 1996 Honorary Citizen of Pusan City, Korea 1997 Henry Norris Russell Lecturer of the American Astronomical Society 1998 Rabindranath Tagore Birth Centenary Plaque, Asiatic Society 1999 Author of Best Book on Science, 2000. American Institute of Physics 2000 2000 Founders Award of the National Academy of Engineering 2000 The Lomonosov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2001 Karl Schwarzschild Medal, Astronomische Gesellschaft 2002 Trotter Prize, Texas A&M University College of Science 2002 Telluride Award of Technology 2003 2002 Drake Award, SETI Institute 2003 Awards (continued) Lifetime Achievement in Science Award of the B. M. Birla Institute 2003 Templeton Prize 2005 Vannevar Bush Award 2006 Russian Embassy’s International Leonardo Award for contributions 2009 - 3 - to the development of physics and creation of laser technology. SPIE Gold Medal 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award, Laser Institute of America 2010 Plaque of appreciation for unique contribution to humanity, including the 2012 Invention of the Maser &Laser from the Nepal Association for Global Cooperation Nancy DeLoye Fitzroy and Ronald V. Fitzroy Medal American Society of 2012 Mechanical Engineers (ASME) The 2012 Fizeau Prize offered by Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur attributed 2012 for lifetime achievements by the International Astronomical Union Commission 54, Optical and Infrared Interferometry, In recognition of the unexpected impact of his study of molecular and atomic spectroscopy, Townes received an inaugural Golden Goose Award. 2012 National Academy of Inventors, Charter Fellow 2012 - 4 - Special Discoveries by CHT • Initiation of microwave spectroscopy (initiation and extensive development of the field) • Study of nuclear spins, sizes, and shapes (quadrupole moments) – interpretation from molecular spectra • Amplification by stimulated emission of radiation – general coverage 1st maser built • Explanation of how to achieve amplification by stimulated emission at optical wavelengths (with Schawlow) • Non-linear optics – early papers and explanations – harmonic generation • First detection of stable molecules in the interstellar medium (NH3 & H2O) • First measurement of the mass of the large black hole in the center of our galaxy. • Interferometry and astronomical spectroscopy using heterodyne detection in the mid IR • First measurement of the change in size of a Mira star, and the phase of size change compared to that of luminosity change • Measurement of warm (not necessarily hot) dust shells around stars – multiple shells & asymmetries and their motions. • Change in size and asymmetries of red giant stars. Publications of Charles H. Townes 1. “Greaseless Vacuum Valves,” Rev. Sci. Instr. 9, 428 (1938). 2. “Apparent Anomalous Isotope Effect in Some Bands Associated with the Swan Bands,” Nature 144, 631 (1939). 3. “The Spin of Carbon Thirteen,” with W.R. Smythe, Phys. Rev. 56, 1210 (1939). “Concentration of the Heavy Isotope of Carbon and Measurement of its Nuclear Spin”, Ph.D. Thesis at California Institute of Technology, 1939 4. “Theory of Cathode Sputtering in Low Voltage Gaseous Discharges,” Phys. Rev. 65, 319 (1944). 5. “Water Spectrum Near One-Centimeter Wave-Length,” with F.R. Merritt, Phys. Rev. 70, 558 (1946). 6. “The Ammonia Spectrum and Line Shapes Near 1.25 cm Wave-Length,” Phys. Rev. 70, 665 (1946). 7. “Interpretation of Radio Radiation from the Milky Way,” ApJ 105, 235 (1946). 8. “Rotational spectra of Some Linear Molecules near 1 cm Wave-Length,” with A.N.