Wolfgang Kurt Hermann "Pief" Panofsky (April 24 1919 – September 24 2007), a German-American physicist.

Early life

Panofsky was born the son of renowned art historian Erwin Panofsky in Berlin, Germany. He received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1938 and obtained his PhD from Caltech in 1942. Around this time (in 1942), he became a U.S. citizen.Wolfgang K. H. Panofsky, "Particles and Policy", American Institute of Physics, 1994. ISBN 1563962470]

Academic career

From 1945 to 1951, Panofsky held an assistant and then associate professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, before permanently establishing himself as Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Between 1961 and 1984, he was the director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and continued to serve as director emeritus. He was also on the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association from 1996 until 1999 and remained a director emeritus until his death.

Panofsky was a member of the Board of Sponsors of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, [http://www.thebulletin.org/about-us/board-sponsors.html Board of Sponsors] page (last accessed August 12, 2007).] and won the Matteucci Medal in 1996 for his fundamental contributions to physics. He was also a recipient of the National Medal of Science, the Franklin Medal, the Ernest O. Lawrence Medal, the Leo Szilard Award and the Enrico Fermi Award.

Panofsky was called "Pief" by members of SLAC as friendly nickname.

Death

Panofsky died at the age of 88 on September 24, 2007 in Los Altos, California, from a heart attack.Panofsky stayed active at SLAC until his last day of life [ [http://home.slac.stanford.edu/pressreleases/2007/20070925.htm Wolfgang Panofsky, Renowned Stanford Physicist and Arms Control Advocate, Dead at 88] September 25, 2007] .

ee also

Panofsky Prize

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/us/28panofsky.html?ex=1348977600&en=019641aa23732532&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss Obituary in the "The New York Times"]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2569200.ece Obituary in "The Times", 2 October 2007]
* [http://www-group.slac.stanford.edu/do/people/pief.html W.K.H. Panofsky's SLAC web page]
* [http://www2.slac.stanford.edu/vvc/nobel.html SLAC Nobel]
* [http://censis.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/publications/Panofsky_Interview_M_Schaaf_6_Juli_2006_korr_13_Nov.pdf Interview with Dr. Panofsky (PDF)]
* [http://thebulletin.metapress.com/content/9x08343n7g1r1n64/fulltext.pdf Peace talk: My life negotiating science and policy by W. K. H. Panofsky (PDF)]
* [http://groups.msn.com/scottfisher/mixedmessage.msnw A 1998 comment entitled "Mixed message", by Dr. Panofsky]
* Dr. Panofsky's wife, Adele Panofsky, reconstructs the Paleoparadoxia bones found at SLAC

References