Herman Z. Cummins (April 23, 1933 in Rochester New York – April 21, 2010 in New York City) was an experimental physicist and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

. He studied at Ohio State University, at the University of Paris, and at Columbia University. After a postdoc with

Charles Townes Charles Hard Townes (July 28, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was an American physicist. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated wi ...

at Columbia Radiation Laboratory, he pursued the tenure track at Johns Hopkins University. In 1971 he returned to New York, where he hold from 1974 to 2004 a Distinguished Professorship at the City College. He was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Award (1998-2003) and a Docteur Honoris Causa of the University Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris (1999). Starting in 1963, Cummins was among the first to use laser light scattering for the systematic investigation of condensed matter. He soon concentrated on ferroelectrics. In the 1980s he started to study growth processes and the dynamics of viscous liquids. In close collaboration with theorist

Wolfgang Götze Wolfgang Götze (born 11 July 1937 – 20 October 2021) was a German theoretical physicist. He began his physics education at Humboldt University of Berlin and the Free University of Berlin, after which he obtained his doctorate at the Technical ...

, he provided experimental support for the mode-coupling theory of

structural relaxation A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such a ...

References

1933 births 2010 deaths City College of New York faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from Rochester, New York Ohio State University alumni Columbia University alumni University of Paris alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society American expatriates in France {{US-physicist-stub