Lyman Spitzer Jr.
- Born: June 26, 1914 (Toledo, Ohio)
- Died: March 31, 1997 (Princeton, New Jersey)
Education
- 1935: BA, Yale University
- 1935–1936: Cambridge University
- 1937: MA, Princeton University
- 1938: PhD, Princeton University (Astrophysics)
Major Positions
- 1938–1939: Harvard University, NRC Fellow
- 1939–1941: Yale University, Instructor in Physics
- 1941–1942: Yale University, Instructor in Astronomy and Physics
- 1942–1944: Columbia University, Scientist, Special Studies Group, Division of War Research
- 1944–1946: Office of Scientific Research and Development, Director, Sonar Analysis Group, Office of Field Services
- 1946–1947: Yale University, Associate Professor of Astrophysics
- 1947–1952: Princeton University, Professor of Astronomy
- 1952–1982: Princeton University, Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy
- 1982–1997: Princeton University, Charles A. Young Emeritus Professor of Astronomy
Other Positions
- 1947–1979: Princeton University, Chair, Department of Astronomy
- 1947–1979: Princeton University, Director, Princeton Observatory
- 1953–1961: Princeton University, Director, Project Matterhorn
- 1958–1960: American Astronomical Society, President
Selected Part-Time Positions
- 1961–1966: Chair, Executive Committee, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University
- 1967–1972: Chair, University Research Board, Princeton University
- 1981–1990: Chair, Space Telescope Institute Council, Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc., Space Telescope Science Institute
Selected Awards and Honors
- 1952: National Academy of Sciences, Member
- 1975: American Physical Society, James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics
- 1979: National Medal of Science
Archival Resources
Princeton University Library, Manuscripts Division, Princeton, New Jersey
Online Finding Aid
Oral History Interviews
- 1977: Available Online
- 1978: Available Online
- 1978: Available Online
- 1991: Available Online
Published Resources
Jeremiah P. Ostriker, "Lyman Spitzer Jr.: 1914-1997", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
Joan Lisa Bromberg, Fusion: Science, Politics, and the Invention of a New Energy Source (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982)
