Dr. Julian Shwinger

1965: Future UCLA Professor (1972-1994) Wins Nobel Prize in Physics

Dr. Julian Schwinger

Julian Schwinger was a professor of Physics at UCLA from 1972 until his passing in 1994. He has been of the campus’ most valuable assets and his most recognized award win took place in 1965. During this year, Schwinger, along with Richard Feynman and Sin Itiro Tomanaga, received the Nobel Prize in physics for their discoveries in quantum electrodynamics.

At UCLA, he was an inspiration to students. David Saxon , UCLA professor emeritus of physics and former University of California president, called him a “mentor,” as he was the “ancestor of at least four generations of physicists” in his family. As a professor, he was the supervisor of more than 70 doctoral theses, including those of three of his students who were to become Nobel Laureates themselves. Ben Mottelson, who studied under Schwinger in 1950 at Harvard University, won the Nobel in Physics in 1975, followed by Sheldon Glasgow just four years later. Sheldon had interacted with Dr. Schwinger while he worked on his doctoral thesis in 1954. In addition, in 1980, Walter Gilbert, who had been one of Julian’s assistants at Harvard, claimed yet another Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry. Dr. Schwinger’s influence was undoubtedly equally felt during his years at UCLA.

"Schwinger gave his students much more than guidance on their research. He gave them a depth of understanding and a mastery of the field which permitted each to become not a Schwinger disciple, but an independent scientist."

Julian Schwinger’s career as a physicist began long before he came to UCLA. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree and later his Doctorate (1939) at Columbia University, where he was greatly influenced by Nobel Laureate I.I. Rabi. After receiving his PhD he traveled to the University of California at Berkeley, where he served as a National Research Fellow as well as an assistant to J. R. Oppenheimer. During the War, he accepted his first teaching position at Purdue University and later worked at the Radiation Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he published works on synchrotron radiation.

In 1945, Schwinger accepted a position of Associate Professor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After becoming full professor in two years, Schwinger was constantly in research, looking for answers to question of theoretical, rather than experimental physics. He was concerned with the “practical importance of phenomenological theory of particles.” He later developed Source Theory, dealing with strongly interacting particles, photons, and gravitons, of which his works have been published in Particles, Sources, and Fields. He worked with speculation, questioning the conventional approach to problems. Some of his earlier works were denied publications due to censorship, which prompted him to end his 50 year membership to the American Physical Society.

Julian Schwinger’s awards and honors were numerous even before his Nobel win. They include the first Einstein Prize (1951), the U.S. National Medal of Science (1964), honorary D.Sc. degrees from Purdue University (1961) and Harvard University (1962), and the Nature of Light Award of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (1949).

His dedication to research and knowledge was highly respected at UCLA. Chancellor Charles E. Young stated "Julian Schwinger will be remembered as one of the great intellectual leaders of UCLA." And he has been years after his departure.

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Schwinger.html

http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1965/schwinger-bio.html

For more information regarding Nobel Prize recipients, visit the Nobel Website.

To find other UCLA Professors who have recieved a Nobel Prize, click here.

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Sarah Mohajeri, 24 May 2005

Bibliography

O'Connor, J J., and E F Robertson. Julian Seymour Schwinger. 2001. 10 May 2005