Richard Franklin Humphreys (May 16, 1911 – August 8, 1968) was a

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 ...

and President of

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

Early life and career

Humphreys was born in Greenville, Ohio and in 1933 earned a bachelors degree from

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

. This was followed by a master's degree in 1936 at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

and a Ph.D. at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1939. He eventually became an associate professor of physics at Yale, where he was the acting director of Yale's Sloane Physics Laboratory and carried out underwater sound research for the US federal government. In 1949, he joined the

Armour Research Foundation IIT Research Institute (IITRI),Greenbaum & Wheeler (1967), cover sheet (technical paper).McCormac; et al. (1967), p. i (book)."IITRI" (or "iiTRi") is used on cover sheets of technical paper documents in prior decades. also known historically and ...

at the Illinois Institute of Technology and worked in the field of

atomic physics Atomic physics is the field of physics that studies atoms as an isolated system of electrons and an atomic nucleus. Atomic physics typically refers to the study of atomic structure and the interaction between atoms. It is primarily concerned wit ...

. Together with Robert Beringer, another professor at Yale, in 1950 he was a co-author of the physics textbook ''First principles of atomic physics.'' During his time as Cooper Union's president (1961-1968), the college expanded the school's academic programs. The first degrees in art and architecture were awarded by Cooper Union in 1963, and the master's degree in engineering was also established during his tenure. In 1967, he began planning for the construction of an academic building at 50 Astor Place, but passed away in 1968 before these plans came to fruition.

References

External links

Richard F. Humphreys' obituary at the New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humphreys, Richard 20th-century American physicists 1911 births 1968 deaths Presidents of Cooper Union Yale University faculty Yale University alumni