Julian Schwinger

12 February 1918 – 16 July 1994

Julian Schwinger (1918-1994) was an American theoretical physicist and one of the principal architects of quantum electrodynamics. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for his renormalization theory of QED, including his landmark calculation of the electron's anomalous magnetic moment. A famously prolific teacher at Harvard, he supervised dozens of doctoral students, several of whom became Nobel laureates.

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Life events

Born in New York City
12 February 1918

Julian Seymour Schwinger was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Jewish immigrant parents.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Earned BA from Columbia University
1936

A prodigy who published physics papers as a teenager, Schwinger received his bachelor's degree from Columbia at age 17.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Completed PhD at Columbia under I. I. Rabi
1939

Schwinger earned his doctorate at Columbia University at age 21, supervised by Isidor Isaac Rabi.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Worked at the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II
1943 – 1945

Schwinger developed the theory of microwave waveguides and radar-related electromagnetic problems at the Radiation Laboratory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Joined the Harvard University faculty
1945

Schwinger became an associate professor at Harvard in 1945 and was promoted to full professor in 1947, one of the youngest in the university's history.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Clarice Carrol
1947

Schwinger married Clarice Carrol of Boston.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Calculated the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron
1948

Schwinger's renormalized QED calculation of the electron's anomalous magnetic moment agreed with experiment, a landmark of quantum field theory.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Shared the Nobel Prize in Physics
1965

Schwinger shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physics with Richard Feynman and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to the University of California, Los Angeles
1971

Schwinger left Harvard for UCLA, where he developed his 'source theory' approach and taught until his death.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died in Los Angeles, California
16 July 1994

Julian Schwinger died of pancreatic cancer in Los Angeles at the age of 76.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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