William M. Fairbank
William Martin Fairbank (24 February 1917 in Minneapolis – 30 September 1989 in Palo Alto) was an American physicist known in particular for his work on liquid helium.[1]
Fairbank obtained his A. B. degree from Whitman College (1939) and his Ph.D. in physics from Yale University (1948) under the supervision of C. T. Lane.[2] He then went on to a productive academic career.[3][4]
- Assistant Professor of Physics, Amherst College, 1947–1952
- Assistant Professor to Associate Professor of Physics, Duke University, 1952–1959
- Professor to Max H. Stein Professor of Physics, Stanford University 1959–1985
- Emeritus Professor of Physics, Stanford University 1985–1989
Legacy
Fairbank had, at Duke, 7 doctoral students and, at Stanford, 47 doctoral students, including Blas Cabrera, Bascom S. Deaver, and Arthur F. Hebard. His three sons are: William M. Fairbank Jr. (a physicist and Fellow of the APS),[5] Robert Harold Fairbank (an antitrust, business, consumer and IP lawyer in Los Angeles), and Richard Dana Fairbank (founder and CEO of Capital One).
Awards
- Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize from the APS, 1963
- Fritz London Memorial Lecture, 1965
- Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 1966.
- Fritz London Memorial Award, 1968
References
- ↑ Cabrera, Blas; Everitt, C. W. F.; Deaver Jr., Bascom S. (February 1991). "Obituary. William M. Fairbank". Physics Today 44 (2): 112–113. Bibcode:1991PhT....44b.112C. doi:10.1063/1.2810005.
- ↑ APS - 2006 APS March Meeting - Event - Low Temperature Physics at Yale in the late 30's through the early 50's The low temperature program at Yale was initiated by Cecil Taverner Lane (1904–1991) in 1937.
- ↑ http://www.aip.org/history/acap/biographies/bio.jsp?fairbankw APS Biography
- ↑ http://www.phy.duke.edu/william-m-fairbank Duke University Biography
- ↑ Wiiliam M. Fairbank Jr. | Physics, Colorado State University website
Sources
- Obituary from the New York Times
- National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
- William M. Fairbank Papers
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