Happy 2017 from the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives; we hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season! We’re ringing in the new year by bringing you our favorite photographs of physicists kicking back and celebrating birthdays, accomplishments, and special occasions with parties!
Featured this month are some familiar faces at our very own Niels Bohr Library dedication celebration in New York City, a few birthday parties of notable physicists, and even a snapshot taken at a Golden Days party in Fairbanks, Alaska.
If you’re interested in viewing more photographs of celebrations from our many image collections, please browse our images of parties and birthday parties.
William “Willy” Fowler and the students and faculty of Caltech’s Kellogg Radiation Laboratory frequently celebrated special occasions with song. Fowler’s birthday was no different – here he is standing next to Charlie Barnes (playing the piano) at his 70th birthday party at Caltech. Date: October 1981
Photograph by Mary R. Holbrow, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Gift of Charles Holbrow
Cheers! Professor T.I. Taylor, William Havens, Jr, Bryce Rustad and others from Columbia University’s Pegram Nuclear Physics Laboratory raise their glasses at the 1957 Christmas party. Date: 1957
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives
Luis Alvarez was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory celebrated accordingly with a grand event! In this photograph, Roger Bangerter, Lina Galtieri, and Richard Muller prepare for the party in front of a CONGRATULATIONS LUIE banner. Date: October 30, 1968
Juan Roederer and the staff of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute know how to celebrate in style. Specifically, they are dressed up for the Golden Days – a festival held in Fairbanks, Alaska to honor the history of the Alaskan Gold Rush! Date: July 1985
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives
On September 26, 1962, a group gathered in the Niels Bohr Library in AIP’s New York City building to celebrate the dedication of the library with a party! Seen here are George Uhlenbeck (left), Mrs. Uhlenbeck, AIP staff Gloria Oden and Margaret Llano, Robert Oppenheimer, Hannelore Hahn (serving punch), and Malcolm Correll. Date: September 26, 1962
AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives
No party is complete without a delicious cake! In this photo, Rosa Segrè and others watch as Emilio Segrè cuts the cake at his 75th birthday party held in Oakland, California. Date: January 1980
In 1979, Lubkin traveled to China to report on the state of physics innovation post-Cultural Revolution. Archives Fellow Dorothy Tang takes a deep dive into the Lubkin papers to understand the details and impact of this trip.
Chemical engineer Paula Hammond, biomedical engineer Anjelica Gonzalez, and physicist Shirley Ann Jackson, describe their best accomplishments in oral history interviews.
Inside certain quantum systems, where randomness was thought to lurk, researchers—after a 40-year journey—have found order and unique wave patterns that stubbornly survive.
April 02, 2026 12:26 PM
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