Philip Abelson
- Born: April 27, 1913 (Tacoma, Washington)
- Died: August 1, 2004 (Washington, DC)
Education
- 1933: BS, Washington State University (Chemistry)
- 1935: MS, Washington State University (Physics)
- 1939: PhD, University of California, Berkeley (Nuclear Physics)
Major Positions
- 1939–1941: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Assistant Physicist
- 1941–1942: United States Navy, Associate Physicist, Naval Research Laboratory
- 1942–1944: United States Navy, Physicist, Naval Research Laboratory
- 1944–1945: United States Navy, Senior Physicist, Naval Research Laboratory
- 1945–1946: United States Navy, Principal Physicist, Naval Research Laboratory
- 1946–1953: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Chair, Biophysics Section, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
- 1953–1971: Carnegie Institution of Washington, Director, Geophysical Laboratory
- 1971–1978: Carnegie Institution of Washington, President
Other Positions
- 1944–1945: United States Navy, Civilian-In-Charge, Navy Yard Branch, Philadelphia, Naval Research Laboratory
- 1959–1965: Journal of Geophysical Research, Editor
- 1962–1984: Science, Editor
- 1972–1974: American Geophysical Union, President
Selected Part-Time Positions
- 1949–1957: Chair, Committee on Radiation Cataracts, National Research Council
- 1950–1953: Chair, Subcommittee on Shock, National Research Council
- 1956–1959: Member, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry Study Section, National Institutes of Health
- 1958–1960: Member, Physical Biology Training Grants Committee, National Institutes of Health
- 1959–1963: Member, Plowshare Advisory Committee, United States Atomic Energy Commission
- 1960–1963: Member, General Advisory Committee, United States Atomic Energy Commission
- 1960–1963: Scientific Councilor, National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases
- 1968–1971: Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences
- 1972–1972: President, Cosmos Club
- 1974–1975: Acting Executive Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science
- 1974–1984: Member, Board of Directors, Washington Gas Light Company
- 1978–1981: Member, Council, National Academy of Sciences
- 1985–1987: Natural Science Fellow, Resources for the Future
Selected Awards and Honors
Archival Resources
Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, DC
Online Finding Aid
Oral History Interviews
- 2002: Available Online
Published Resources
Philip H. Abelson, "A Sport Played by Graduate Students," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists May (1974): 48-52.
Philip H. Abelson and John Abelson, Uncle Phil and the Atomic Bomb (Greenwood Village, CO: Roberts and Co., 2008)
