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Dr. Petrus J.W. Debye - 1940
Dr. Petrus J.W. Debye, Director of the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, was
born in Maastricht, Holland, on March 24, 1884.
After having finished high school work at the Hoogere Burger School of his
native town, he entered the Technische Hochscule of Aachen, where he studied
electrical engineering and obtained the degree of Diplom- Ingenieur in 1905.
During his last year in Aachen and from 1906 to 1911, he was an assistant of
Professor Sommerfeld, the well-known theoretical physicist, at the University of
Munich. In 1908, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the
University of Munich, and in 1911 he was called to the University of Zurich as a
Professor in Theoretical Physics. In 1913, he was called to the University of
Utrecht, and in 1914, to the University of Goettingen.
Dr. Debye was appointed in 1920, Professor of Physics and Director of the
Physics Laboratory at the Eidgenoessische Technische Hochscule in Zurich, and in
1927 he was called to the equivalent position at the university of Leipzig. In
1935, he was asked by the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft to build a research
Institute for Physics, with funds provided by the Rockefeller Institute. This is
now known as the Max Planck Institute. At the same time, he was appointed as a
Professor at the University of Berlin.
Professor Debye has published many papers, dealing mostly with questions of
molecular structure, his object being always to bridge the gap between chemistry
and physics. Since 1916, he has been the editor of the Physikalische Zeitschrift.
He received the Rumford, the Faraday, the Lorentz and the Franklin medals, and
was given honorary degrees by the Universities of Oxford, Liege, Bruxelles,
Sofia and Harvard. In 1936, he was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry. He has
visited the United States several times, lecturing at various universities. He
is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and an honorary member of
learned societies and academies in many countries.
Mendel Medal Presentation Program, May 3,
1940. Villanova College, Villanova, Pennsylvania.
Debye, Peter Joseph William, educator; born Maastricht, Netherlands, March 24,
1884; son of Wilhelmus and Maria (Reumkens) Debye; E.E. Engineering School,
Aachen; Ph.D., University of Munich; honorary degrees; Harvard, Brooklyn
Polytech, st. Lawrence University, Colgate University, Oxford, Brussels, Leige,
Sofia Eidgenossiche Technische Hochschule, Boston college, University of Notre
Dame, Providence college, clarkson College of Technology, Technische Hochschule,
many others; married Mathilde Alberer April 10, 1913; children--Peter Paul
Ruprecht, Mathilde Maria Gabriele. Came to U.S. 1940. Professor theoretical
physics University of Zurich, 1911; professor universities of Utrecht,
Goettingen, Leipzig, Berlin; professor of chemistry and chemistry department
Cornell University, 1940-1950, emeritus, 1950--. Recipient Lorentz, Faraday,
Rumford, Franklin medals; Nobel award in chemistry, 1936; Wilard Gibbs medal,
1949; Max Planck medal, 1950; Kommandeur des Ordens Leopold II; Kendall award,
colloid chemistry American Chemists Society, Miami, 1957; Nichols medal New York
section American Chemists Society, 1961, Priestly medal, 1963; American
Physicists Society High Polymer Prize, Ford Motor Company, 1965, Madison
Marshall Aaward N.Ala. section American chemists Society, 1965, also National
Medal of science, 1965. Fgn. Member Royal Society of Amsterdam, Pontifical,
Royal Irish, Royal Danish, Berlin, Gottengin, Munich, Brussels, Liege, Indian,
National (U.S.A.), New York, American (Boston), Papal (Rome), Indian (Bungalore),
Royal Irish (Dublin), Royal Danish (Denmark), Royal Dutch (amsterdam) academies;
Franklin Institute of Philadelphia, Royal Institution of Great Britain, Royal
Society of London, USSR, Hungarian, Argentina academies of science, National
Institution of Science India, Real Sociedad Espanola de Fisica y Quimica Madrid,
American Philosophical Society. Home: 104 Highgate Road, Ithaca, New York 14850.
Died November 2, 1966.
Who Was Who in America. Volume IV,
1961-1968. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who, 1968, p.239.
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