By Michael Scanlan, APS Meetings Manager
Eighty-two people have served as president of APS, and there are 147 winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics. There have been 21 APS presidents who have also won a Nobel Prize, before, during, and after their tenure. Thirteen received the prize before serving, seven after serving, and one was awarded the Nobel Prize while serving as APS President. The latter was Arthur Schawlow in 1981. Since the prize is announced in October, and the APS presidential term ends in December, it must have been doubly satisfying to win the Nobel and escape APS servitude at roughly the same time. What an exit! Bill Havens, then APS Executive Secretary, said "He arranged to have the 'President of the APS' send Schawlow a congratulatory letter.
John Bardeen won the Nobel Prize, served as APS President, and then won the Nobel Prize again, so obviously we didn't wear him out. We counted him as having won the prize before serving, since the second prize was obviously lagniappe.
Other Nobel Prize Facts:
Albert A. Michaelson R.A. Millikan Arthur H. Compton P.W. Bridgman J.H. Van Vleck Enrico Fermi H.A. Bethe E.P. Wigner Felix Bloch C.H. Townes John Bardeen L.W. Alvarez E.M. Purcell W.A. Fowler N.F. Ramsey A.L. Schawlow R.R. Wilson V.L. Fitch N. Bloembergen B. Richter J. Robert Schrieffer | 1907 1923 1927 1946 1977 1938 1967 1963 1952 1964 1956,1972 1968 1952 1983 1989 1981 1978 1980 1981 1976 1972 | 1901-1902 1916-1917 1934 1942 1952 1953 1954 1956 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1976 1978 1981 1985 1987, 1988 1991 1994 1996 |
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