Henry G. Blosser Explained

Henry "Hank" Gabriel Blosser (March 16, 1928, Harrisonburg, Virginia – March 20, 2013, East Lansing, Michigan) was an American nuclear physicist, known as a director for designing and building superconducting cyclotrons.[1] [2]

Biography

His father, Emanuel Blosser (1877–1953), was a prominent citizen of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and was extremely successful in the poultry business and in banking.[3] After graduating from Harrisonburg High School in 1945,[4] Henry Blosser attended the University of Virginia (UVA) for a year and then served for two years in the U.S. Navy. At UVA he was an undergraduate from 1948 to 1951, when he graduated with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. From 1951 to 1954 he was a graduate student in physics at UVA, graduating with an M.S. in 1952 and a Ph.D. in 1954. His Ph.D. thesis Large-angle scattering of electrons at 65 kilovolts was supervised by Frank L. Hereford Jr.[1] [5]

From 1954 to 1958 in Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Cyclotron Nuclear Research Group, Blosser was a physicist and group leader. At Michigan State University (MSU), he was an associate professor from 1958 to 1961, a full professor from 1961 to 1990, and a university distinguished professor from 1990[6] until he retired in 2003.[1] At MSU's cyclotron laboratory he was the director 1958 to 1985 and co-director from 1985 to 1988, when he resigned as co-director.[7] [8] From 1984 until his death in 2013 he was also an adjunct professor in Wayne State University's department of radiation oncology.[6]

After formally retiring from MSU in 2013, he developed cyclotrons for cancer therapy.[1]

In 1968 Blosser was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society.[9] He was a Guggenheim Fellow for the academic year 1973–1974.[10] In 1984 he was one of ten people designated as "Michiganian of the Year" by The Detroit News.[11]

In 1992 he received, jointly with Robert E. Pollock, the American Physical Society's Tom W. Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics for pioneering development of innovations in particle accelerators. Blosser's work was cited as follows:

Upon his death in 2013 he was survived by his widow, 4 children, 14 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.[12]

Selected publications

References

  1. 10.1063/PT.3.2090. Obituary. Henry Gabriel Blosser. 2013. Austin. Sam M.. Physics Today. 66. 8. 57–58. free.
  2. News: Oswald, Tom. MSU cyclotron pioneer Henry Blosser dies. MSU Today. Michigan State University. March 22, 2013.
  3. Book: Wayland, John W.. Emanuel Blosser. Men of Mark and Representative Citizens of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, Virginia: Portraits and Biographies of Men and Women. 1999. 38–39. Clearfield Publishing Company.
  4. According to the Harrison High School - Taj Yearbook (Harrison, VA) - Class of 1945, Henry Gabriel Blosser graduated in June 1945.
  5. Web site: Henry Gabriel Blosser. Physics Tree.
  6. Web site: Henry Gabriel Blosser, Biography. American Institute of Physics.
  7. Web site: Henry Blosser - Oral History Interview. On the Banks of the Red Cedar, Michigan State University (MSU archives). August 9, 2000.
  8. 10.1063/1.2811629. Blosser Steps Down as Michigan State Laboratory Head. Physics Today. 1988. 41. 11. 96.
  9. Web site: APS Fellow Archive. American Physical Society. (search on year=1968)
  10. Web site: Henry Blosser. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.
  11. News: The Detroit News. Michiganians of the Year, since 1978.
  12. News: Henry G. Blosser. Lansing State Journal. March 31, 2013.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Henry G. Blosser".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.