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90_HR0052
LRB9005053CBcbA
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, John Bardeen, professor emeritus of the
3 University of Illinois, was the first person to win two Nobel
4 prizes in physics, in 1956 for his collaboration in research
5 and discovery of the transistor and in 1972 for his
6 participation in the development of the theory of
7 superconductivity; and
8 WHEREAS, John Bardeen was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on
9 May 23, 1908 and died in Boston, Massachusetts, on January
10 30, 1991; and
11 WHEREAS, He studied electrical engineering at the
12 University of Wisconsin and received a bachelor's degree in
13 1928 and a master's degree in 1929; he worked as a
14 geophysicist at Gulf Research Laboratories from 1930-1933;
15 and
16 WHEREAS, In 1933, he returned to graduate studies in
17 mathematical physics at Princeton University where he became
18 a member of the now famous group of students that studied
19 solid-state physics under Professor E. P. Wigner; and
20 WHEREAS, He spent three years as a Junior Fellow of the
21 Society of Fellows at Harvard University, and later received
22 a doctorate from Princeton University; and
23 WHEREAS, During World War II, John Bardeen was principal
24 physicist at the U.S. Ordnance Laboratory in Washington,
25 D.C.; after the war, he joined the newly formed solid-state
26 research group at Bell Telephone Laboratories where, together
27 with W. H. Brattain, he discovered the transistor in 1947;
28 and
29 WHEREAS, In 1951, he accepted a professorship in
30 electrical engineering and physics at the University of
31 Illinois where, in collaboration with L. N. Cooper and J. R.
-2- LRB9005053CBcbA
1 Schrieffer, he developed the microscopic theory of
2 superconductivity; and
3 WHEREAS, John Bardeen was named Professor Emeritus of the
4 University of Illinois in 1975; and
5 WHEREAS, John Bardeen had served on the President's
6 Science Advisory Committee from 1959-1962 and on the White
7 House Science Council in the early 1980s; and
8 WHEREAS, His honors were numerous and, in addition to the
9 Nobel prizes, included the National Medal of Science, the
10 United States Medal of Freedom, the Distinguished Service
11 Award of the University of Illinois, the Lomonosov Gold Medal
12 of the Soviet Academy of Sciences, and the Third Century
13 Award of the U.S. Patent Office; and
14 WHEREAS, John Bardeen was supported through his career
15 and private life by his wife, Jane; his sons, James and
16 William; his daughter, Elizabeth Greytak; and his
17 grandchildren, Charles, Karen, William, David, Andrew, and
18 Matthew; and
19 WHEREAS, December 16, 1997 marks the 50th anniversary of
20 the first time John Bardeen and his fellow physicists heard
21 sound through their transistor and December 23, 1997 marks
22 the anniversary of its first successful operation; therefore,
23 be it
24 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
25 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
26 join in paying tribute to the memory of John Bardeen on the
27 50th anniversary of the invention of the transistor and
28 applaud his many contributions; and be it further
29 RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
30 presented to the family of John Bardeen.