Lee Alvin DuBridge

Alvin Lee DuBridge ( born September 21, 1901 in Terre Haute, Indiana; † January 23, 1994 in Duarte, California ) was an American physicist, president of Caltech and influential science advisors in the U.S..

DuBridge grew up in modest circumstances, studied at Cornell College and the University of Wisconsin- Madison, where he received his master's degree in 1924 and his doctorate in 1926. Then he was at Caltech with Robert Millikan ( with a grant from the National Research Council ) and in 1928 assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis ( and 1933 Associate Professor ). In 1934 he became a professor at the University of Rochester, where he was dean of the 1938-1942 Faculty of Arts and Sciences and also a director of the physics faculty.

In 1941 he was the founding Director of the Radiation Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which he directed until 1945. Here, the radar technology was developed. There began his long career as a scientific advisor to both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Army. In 1955 he was on the cover of Time ( subtitled Senior Statesman of Science).

1946 to 1969 he was president of Caltech. In 1969 he retired.

His early work dealt with the photoelectric effect, resulting in two books were created. In Rochester, he moved to nuclear physics and built a cyclotron with SW Barnes ( the energy of 5 MeV reached and operated from 1936 ).

1969/70 he was chairman of the President's Science Advisory Committee ( PSAC ). In 1947 he was president of the American Physical Society. He was both the Council (Board of Trustees ) of the Rockefeller Foundation ( 1956-1967 ) and the Rand Corporation ( 1948-1961 ) and scientific advisor at General Motors. Since 1943 he was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. 1958 to 1964 he was in the National Science Board. He received the U.S. Medal of Merit, the Vannevar Bush Award and the Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom of the British king. He was achtundzwanzigfacher honorary doctorate.

He was married in 1925 and had a daughter and a son.