Charles Pence Slichter (January 21, 1924 – February 19, 2018) was an 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 cau ...

, best known for his work on

nuclear magnetic resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

and superconductivity. He was awarded the 2007

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social scienc ...

"for establishing nuclear magnetic resonance as a powerful tool to reveal the fundamental molecular properties of liquids and solids. His inspired teaching has led generations of physicists and chemists to develop a host of modern technologies in condensed matter physics, chemistry, biology and medicine."

Birth and education

Slichter was born in 1924 in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

. He attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, where in 1949 received his Ph.D. under the supervision of Edward Purcell.

Career

Slichter was a professor of physics and chemistry at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

from 1949 until his retirement in 2006. He spent one sabbatical semester (Spring 1961) as Morris Loeb Lecturer at

. The lectures he gave there formed the nucleus of his book "Principles of Magnetic Resonance". Slichter served as a member of the

National Science Board The National Science Board (NSB) of the United States establishes the policies of the National Science Foundation (NSF) within the framework of applicable national policies set forth by the President and the Congress. The NSB also serves as an ind ...

from 1976–1984; as a member and vice-chair of the

President's Science Advisory Committee The President's Science Advisory Committee (PSAC) was created on November 21, 1957, by President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower, as a direct response to the Soviet launching of the Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2 satellites. PSAC was an upgrad ...

from 1965–1969; as a member of the President's Committee on the

, 1969–1974; and as a member of the President's Committee on Science and Technology Policy, 1976. Slichter was a member (Fellow) of the

Harvard Corporation The President and Fellows of Harvard College (also called the Harvard Corporation or just the Corporation) is the smaller and more powerful of Harvard University's two governing boards, and is now the oldest corporation in America. Together with ...

, Harvard's senior governing body, from 1970–1995. He chaired the search committee that selected Neil Rudenstine as the

president of Harvard The president of Harvard University is the chief academic administration, administrator of Harvard University and the ''Ex officio member, ex officio'' president of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard Corporation. Each is appoi ...

in 1991. He was an elected member of the United States National Academy of Sciences, 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, a ...

, and the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...

Research

Slichter's research focused primarily on

NMR Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are perturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with ...

and superconductivity. His most important work includes: *Co-discoverer of the Hebel-Slichter effect, giving the earliest evidence for the

BCS theory BCS theory or Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory (named after John Bardeen, Leon Cooper, and John Robert Schrieffer) is the first microscopic theory of superconductivity since Heike Kamerlingh Onnes's 1911 discovery. The theory describes sup ...

of superconductivity. *With Tom Carver, gave the first demonstration of the Overhauser Effect. *With Gutowsky and McCall, discovered

J-coupling In nuclear chemistry and nuclear physics, ''J''-couplings (also called spin-spin coupling or indirect dipole–dipole coupling) are mediated through chemical bonds connecting two spins. It is an indirect interaction between two nuclear spins that ...

. *With Bob Schumacher and Tom Carver, performed the first measurement of the Pauli spin susceptibility of conduction electrons. Other notable scientific contributions include the introduction of phase sensitive detection to pulsed NMR and its use to detect weak signals, studies of charge density waves and of the Kondo effect, the theory of ^F

chemical shift In nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, the chemical shift is the resonant frequency of an atomic nucleus relative to a standard in a magnetic field. Often the position and number of chemical shifts are diagnostic of the structure o ...

s, NMR studies of

high-temperature superconductivity High-temperature superconductors (abbreviated high-c or HTS) are defined as materials that behave as superconductors at temperatures above , the boiling point of liquid nitrogen. The adjective "high temperature" is only in respect to previou ...

, theory of the effects of chemical exchange on NMR spectra, and studies of NMR of metal surfaces (catalysis). Slichter was the recipient of numerous awards, in addition to the 2007 National Medal of Science. In 1993 Slichter was awarded the

Comstock Prize in Physics The Comstock Prize in Physics is awarded by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences "for recent innovative discovery or investigation in electricity, magnetism, or radiant energy, broadly interpreted." Honorees must be residents of North America. ...

from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1969 he received the Langmuir Prize, and 1996 the Buckley Prize, both from the American Physical Society. The

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...

honored his discovery of

with a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award in 2016. Slichter was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow from 1955–1961. Slichter received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

(1993) and

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

(2010), and an honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) degree from

in 1996.

Family

Slichter was the son of economist Sumner Slichter, the grandson of mathematician Charles S. Slichter, the nephew of geophysicist Louis B. Slichter, the father of musician

Jacob Slichter Jacob Slichter (born Jacob Huber Slichter, April 5, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the rock band Semisonic. Early life Slichter, the son of physicist Charles Slichter, was born in Boston, Massachu ...

, and brother of

Bell Labs 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 development, research and scientific developm ...

executive William P. Slichter.

Books

* * *

References

External links

* http://www.ebyte.it/library/educards/nmr/Nmr_HebelSlichter.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Slichter, Charles Pence 1924 births 2018 deaths University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty National Medal of Science laureates Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Harvard University alumni Scientists from Ithaca, New York Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners Members of the American Philosophical Society