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October 18, 2006
Dr. John Bahcall, Richard Black Professor Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, 2-23-05
Dr. John Bahcall (1934-2005) had a long and prolific career in astronomy and astrophysics, spanning five decades and the publication of more than 500 technical papers, books, and popular articles.
Dr. Bahcall's original calculations of the expected neutrino output from the sun led to a long, experimental, and intellectual adventure that continues today. The "solar neutrino problem" has yielded new insights in astrophysics and into the most basic forces of nature. Dr. Bahcall led a major effort to exploit the capabilities of the Hubble Space Telescope in elucidating the properties of quasars, and is recognized for his theoretical work in many different areas of astrophysics, including models of the Galaxy and studies of dark matter.
Dr. Bahcall was Richard Black Professor Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study. He joined the Institute in 1968. He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and Member of the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and NASA Advisory Council.
Dr. Bahcall was the recipient of the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal (1992), National Medal of Science (1998), Hans Bethe Prize (1998), Dan David Prize (2003), Royal Astronomical Society Gold Medal (2003), Benjamin Franklin Medal (2003), Enrico Fermi Award (2003), and the Comstock Prize in Physics (2004).
The Institute for Advanced Study is one of the world’s leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. The Institute exists to encourage and support fundamental scholarship—the original, often speculative, thinking that produces advances in knowledge. It provides for the mentoring of young scholars by senior Faculty, and offers the freedom to pursue work that will make significant contributions to a broad range of fields in the sciences and humanities. The Institute is a private, independent academic institution located on an 800-acre site in Princeton, NJ. It was founded in 1930 by philanthropists Louis Bamberger and his sister Caroline Bamberger Fuld, and through the vision of educator Abraham Flexner and the guidance of founding Trustees Samuel D. Leidesdorf and Herbert H. Maass.
Work at the Institute takes place in four Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Science. Esteemed past faculty have included Albert Einstein, who remained at the Institute until his death in 1955, and luminaries such as Kurt Gödel, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Erwin Panofsky, Homer A. Thompson, John von Neumann, and Hermann Weyl. Currently, a permanent Faculty of 26 eminent scholars guides the work of the Schools, and each year awards fellowships to some 190 visiting Members, from about 100 universities and research institutions throughout the world. The Institute’s more than 5000 former Members hold positions of intellectual and scientific leadership in the United States and abroad. More than a dozen Nobel laureates, and many more winners of the Wolf or MacArthur prizes, have been Institute Faculty or Members. Thirty-two out of 44 Fields Medalists have been Institute Faculty or Members.
Posted by David Lemberg at October 18, 2006 09:06 AM Return to SCIENCE AND SOCIETY home page