John Van Vleck
- Born: March 13, 1899 (Middletown, Connecticut)
- Died: October 27, 1980 (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Education
- 1920: AB, Harvard University
- 1921: AM, Harvard University
- 1922: PhD, Harvard University (Physics)
Major Positions
- 1922–1923: Harvard University, Instructor in Physics
- 1923–1928: University of Minnesota, Assistant Professor to Professor
- 1928–1934: University of Wisconsin, Madison, Professor of Physics
- 1934–1951: Harvard University, Professor of Physics
- 1951–1957: Harvard University, Dean, Engineering and Applied Physics
- 1951–1969: Harvard University, Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
- 1969–1980: Harvard University, Emeritus Professor Mathematics and Natural Philosophy
Other Positions
- 1927–1927: Stanford University, Visiting Professor
- 1933–1933: University of Michigan, Visiting Professor
- 1934–1934: Columbia University, Visiting Professor
- 1934–1934: Stanford University, Visiting Professor
- 1937–1937: Princeton University, Visiting Professor
- 1941–1941: Stanford University, Visiting Professor
- 1943–1945: Harvard University, Head, Theory Group, Radio Research Laboratory
- 1945–1949: Harvard University, Chair, Department of Physics
- 1952–1952: American Physical Society, President
- 1960–1960: University of Leiden, Lorentz Guest Professor
- 1961–1962: Oxford University, Eastman Professor
Selected Part-Time Positions
- 1941–1941: Member, Advisory Committee on Uranium Research, National Academy of Sciences
Selected Awards and Honors
- 1935: National Academy of Sciences, Member
- 1965: American Physical Society, Irving Langmuir Prize in Chemical Physics
- 1966: National Medal of Science
- 1977: Nobel Prize in Physics
Archival Resources
American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives, College Park, Maryland
Online Finding Aid
American Philosophical Society Library, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Online Finding Aid
Oral History Interviews
- 1963: Available Online
- 1966: Available Online
- 1977: Available Online
Resources on the Web
Published Resources
P. W. Anderson, "John Hasbrouck Van Vleck: 1899-1980", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences
Hiroyuki Konno, "Spontaneous Emission, Radiation Force, and the Correspondence Principle," Historia Scientiarum 2 (1992): 151-157
Hiroyuki Konno, "Radiation Damping and the Width of Spectal Lines: Van Vleck's and Slater's Attempts in the Old Quantum Theory (Japanese)," Kagakusi Kenkyu: Journal of History of Science, Japan 31 (1992): 156-163
Hiroyuki Konno, "Van Vleck's Correspondence Principle for Absorption and Kramers' Dispersion Theory (Japanese)," Kagakusi Kenkyu: Journal of History of Science, Japan 32 (1993): 99-107
Anthony Duncan and Michel Janssen, "On the Verge of Umdeutung in Minnesota: Van Vleck and the Correspondence Principle, Part One," Archive for History of Exact Sciences 61 (2007): 553-624
