William A. Fowler

PhysicistCalifornia Institute of Technology

Nobel Prize WinnerScientist

William “Willie” Fowler was an American physicist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics.

He received his PhD in physics from Caltech. He spent most his career at Caltech, where he became director of the Kellogg Radiation Laboratory. He was friendly with J. Robert Oppenheimer when Oppie was on the faculty at Caltech before the war.

Fowler was an experimental nuclear physicist. His most famous paper (which he co-authored with several other physicists) was “Synthesis of the Elements in Stars.” He won the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physics with Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar “for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe.”

William A. Fowler’s Timeline

1911 Aug 11th Born in Pittsburgh, PA.

1913 Moved with his family to Lima, OH.

1933 Received BS from Ohio State University.

1936 Received PhD in physics from Caltech.

1939 Became assistant professor at Caltech.

1946 Became full professor at Caltech.

1957 Published “Synthesis of the Elements in Stars.

1983 Awarded Nobel Prize in Physics.

1995 Mar 14th Died in Pasadena, CA.

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