Full Text of HR1247 100th General Assembly
HR1247 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Leon Max | 4 | | Lederman, who passed away on October 3, 2018; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Leon Lederman was born in New York City on July | 6 | | 15, 1922; his parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, who | 7 | | ran a hand laundry business; he showed an interest in science | 8 | | at an early age and was inspired by an older brother who | 9 | | tinkered at home; he graduated from City College of New York in | 10 | | 1943, where he majored in chemistry; he then served as an | 11 | | officer in the United States Army for three years; he received | 12 | | his master's degree in physics from Columbia in 1951; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, During graduate school, Leon Lederman joined the | 14 | | Columbia physics department in constructing a 385-MeV | 15 | | synchrotron at Nevis lab at Irvington-on-the Hudson, New York; | 16 | | he remained as part of that collaboration for 28 years and | 17 | | eventually served as director of Nevis Labs from 1961 until | 18 | | 1978; though his early award-winning work, he rose to | 19 | | prominence as a researcher and began to influence science | 20 | | policy; in the early 1960s, he proposed the idea for the | 21 | | National Accelerator Laboratory, which eventually became | 22 | | Fermilab; he served as director of Fermilab from 1978 until | 23 | | 1989; as the director, he established the ongoing Saturday |
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| 1 | | Morning Physics program; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Leon Lederman promoted math and science education | 3 | | in many ways; in the early 1980s, he worked with members of the | 4 | | Illinois State Government to start the Illinois Math and | 5 | | Science Academy, which was founded in Aurora in 1985; he | 6 | | founded and was chairman of the Teachers Academy for | 7 | | Mathematics and Science and was active in the professional | 8 | | development of primary school teachers in Chicago; he also | 9 | | helped to found the nonprofit Fermilab Friends for Science | 10 | | Education; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, During his career, Leon Lederman received some of | 12 | | the highest national and international awards and honors given | 13 | | to scientists; these include the 1965 National Medal of | 14 | | Science, the 1972 Elliot Creeson Medal from the Franklin | 15 | | Institute, the Wolf Prize in 1982, and the Nobel Prize in | 16 | | physics in 1988; he received the Enrico Fermi Award for his | 17 | | career contributions to science, technology, and medicine | 18 | | related to nuclear energy and the science and technology of | 19 | | energy in 1992 and was given the Vannevar Bush Award for | 20 | | exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology in 2012; | 21 | | and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Leon Lederman also served as the Pritzker | 23 | | professor of science at the Illinois Institute of Technology |
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| 1 | | and as chairman of the State of Illinois Governor's Science | 2 | | Advisory Committee; he served on the board of the Chicago | 3 | | Museum of Science and Industry and the Secretary of Energy | 4 | | Advisory Board; he will be remembered as someone who made the | 5 | | general public more aware of the importance of science; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Leon Lederman is survived by his wife of 37 years, | 7 | | Ellen; and his children, Rena, Jesse, and Rachel, with his | 8 | | first wife, Florence Gordon; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 10 | | HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 11 | | mourn the passing of Leon Max Lederman and extend our sincere | 12 | | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved | 13 | | him; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 | | presented to the family of Leon Lederman as an expression of | 16 | | our deepest sympathy.
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