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Julian Schwinger was a professor in UCLA's department of physics
from 1972 until his death in 1994.
"Julian Schwinger will be remembered as one of the great intellectual
leaders of UCLA," said Charles E. Young, chancellor during
Schwinger's time here. "His contributions to the academic community
have made a lasting impression on research, teaching and the role
of the university in advancing knowledge."
"Julian was a gentle, cultivated man and one of a handful
of scientists whose magnificent contributions made science the great
intellectual adventure of the 20th century," said David Saxon,
UCLA professor emeritus of physics and former University of California
president.
In 1965, Schwinger was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, an award
he shared with Richard Feynman and Sin-itiro Tomonaga, for their
independent contributions to quantum electrodynamics. The theoretical
achievements of Schwinger and Feynman in the late 1940s and early
1950s provoked a revolution in theoretical physics (quantum field
theory) and laid the foundations for the spectacular progress made
in physics since that time.
"But perhaps most important was Julian's role as a mentor,"
Saxon said. "He directed more than 70 doctoral theses and is
the ancestor of at least four generations of physicists."
To his own students he gave much more than guidance on their research.
He gave them a depth of understanding and a mastery of the field
that permitted each to become, not a Schwinger disciple, but an
independent scientist, each in his or her own way.
"Of Schwinger's students, three have also won the Nobel Prize:
B Mottelson and S. Glashow in physics, and W. Gilbert in biology,"
Saxon said. All three were students at Harvard under Schwinger.
A man of broad interests, Schwinger is remembered by his UCLA colleagues
for his love of music. He took piano lessons for decades.
"Julian read widely in history and novels, was a movie buff,
was devoted to skiing and tennis and loved good food and good wine,"
Saxon said. "Small talk was not his forte; his sense of humor
was too subtle for that. But he was a great listener and a deep
and provocative thinker."
Julian Schwinger was born Feb. 12, 1918 and died July 16, 1994. |
