Bernd Theodor Matthias (June 8, 1918 – October 27, 1980
) was a German-born American
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...
credited with discoveries of hundreds of elements and alloys with superconducting properties.
He was said to have discovered more elements and compounds with superconducting properties than any other scientist.
Education and career
Matthias was born in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
,
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
on June 8, 1918. He received his PhD in physics from the
Federal Institute of Technology
(colloquially)
, former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule
, image = ETHZ.JPG
, image_size =
, established =
, type = Public
, budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021)
, rector = Günther Dissertori
, president = Joël Mesot
, a ...
in
Zurich in 1943. He also earned a D.Sc. from the
University of Lausanne
The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...
in 1947.
He immigrated to the United States in 1947.
He taught at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
(1947-1948), then went to work for
Bell Laboratories
Nokia Bell Labs, originally named Bell Telephone Laboratories (1925–1984),
then AT&T Bell Laboratories (1984–1996)
and Bell Labs Innovations (1996–2007),
is an American industrial research and scientific development company owned by mult ...
in 1948, and worked at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
(1949-1951), before joining the physics faculty of
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
in 1961. He remained at UCSD for the rest of his career, conducting research and mentoring students who became distinguished physicists in their turn. He is best known for his work on solid state physics and the behavior of matter at extremely low temperatures; he also did important work on ferroelectricity.
Matthias was also a member of the
JASON defense advisory group
JASON is an independent group of elite scientists which advises the United States government on matters of science and technology, mostly of a sensitive nature. The group was created in the aftermath of the Sputnik launch as a way to reinvigorate ...
.
Awards
In 1965 he was elected to both the
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
, and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
.
He received the Research Corporation Award (1962),
John Price Wetherill Medal
The John Price Wetherill Medal was an award of the Franklin Institute. It was established with a bequest given by the family of John Price Wetherill (1844–1906) on April 3, 1917. On June 10, 1925, the Board of Managers voted to create a silver ...
of the Franklin Institute (1964), the
Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize
The Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize is an annual award given by the American Physical Society "to recognize and encourage outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics." It was endowed by AT&T Bell Lab ...
(1970)
and
James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials
The James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials is a prize that has been awarded annually by the American Physical Society since 1975, but was only given that name following its endowment by IBM in 1999. Prior to that it was known as the Internation ...
(1979).
[American Physical Society:James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials](_blank)
/ref>
Recognition
The University of California, San Diego has an endowed chair in physics named for him; the Bernd T. Matthias Chair in Physics is currently held by M. Brian Maple, who received his PhD under Mathias.
The Bernd T. Matthias Prize for Superconducting Materials was created in 1989 and is awarded annually at the M2S (Materials and Mechanisms of Superconductivity) Conference to recognize innovative contributions to the material aspects of superconductivity. The award was originally sponsored by Bell Labs; since 2000 it has been sponsored by the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston, whose founding director, Paul C. W. Chu
Paul Ching Wu Chu (; born February 12, 1941) is a Chinese-American physicist specializing in superconductivity, magnetism, and dielectrics. He is a Professor of physics and T.L.L. Temple Chair of Science in the UH Physics Department, Physics Depa ...
, was Matthias’ former student.
See also
* Bernd T. Matthias Prize
References
External links
Bernd Matthias Papers
MSS 101
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.
Further reading
*
Bernd Matthias: A Personal Memoir
by Paul R. Stein
On the physics and chemistry of solids: Dedicated to Prof. Bernd T. Matthias on the occasion of his 60th birthday
Issue of Journal of the Less-Common Metals
The ''Journal of Alloys and Compounds'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering experimental and theoretical approaches to materials problems that involve compounds and alloys. It is published by Elsevier and the editor-in-chief is V. Pech ...
(1978)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthias, Bernd T.
1918 births
1980 deaths
20th-century American physicists
University of California, San Diego faculty
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
German emigrants to the United States
Scientists at Bell Labs
Scientists from Frankfurt
Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners
Members of JASON (advisory group)