Robert Carr Dynes (born November 8, 1942) is a Canadian-American physicist, researcher, and academic administrator, and professor of physics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and the former president of the University of California system, and former

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

Biography

Early years

Dynes was born in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1964. He then earned master's (1965) and doctorate (1968) degrees in physics from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1984.

Career

Dynes worked at

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 ...

from 1964 to 1990, studying

semiconductors A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...

and

superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

. He then became professor of physics at the

(UCSD), in 1991. In 1996 he became Chancellor of the UCSD campus, then in 2003 was chosen to be the 18th President of the University of California system. Dynes' scientific honors include the 1990

Fritz London Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900 – March 30, 1954) was a German physicist and professor at Duke University. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces) are today c ...

Memorial Prize in Low Temperature Physics and his 2001 election to the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, a society to which he was elected in 1989. Dynes is a fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

(1981), the

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a Canadian-based global research organization that brings together teams of top researchers from around the world to address important and complex questions. It was founded in 1982 and is s ...

, 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 ...

. Dynes remains active in his research and heads a modest sized low temperature physics laboratory at Berkeley. After five tumultuous years as President of UC, filled with compensation scandals, the suicide of UCSC Chancellor

Denice Denton Denice Dee Denton (August 27, 1959 – June 24, 2006) was an American professor of electrical engineering and academic administrator. She was the ninth chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Biography Early years Denton was ...

and other challenges, on August 13, 2007, Dynes announced he would resign his position as the President of the University of California to return to his teaching position and spend time with his new wife, Ann Parode. He resigned on August 16. 2007, and was replaced by

Mark Yudof Mark George Yudof (born October 30, 1944) is an American law professor and academic administrator. He is a former president of the University of California (2008-2013), former chancellor of the University of Texas System (2002–2008), and former ...

, formerly chancellor of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

. In November 2008, Dynes' close aide and his UC Associate President Linda Morris Williams was awarded a controversial pay out and re-hired as an Associate Chancellor at University of California, Berkeley by Chancellor

Robert Birgeneau Robert Joseph Birgeneau (born March 25, 1942) is a Canadian-American physicist and university administrator. He was the ninth chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley from 2004-13, and the fourteenth president of the University of Toro ...

. This event led President

to make changes to the buy out program.

Personal life

Dynes naturalized to the United States in 1984. He married Cristel Dynes in 1968 and they divorced in January 1998. He married a physics professor,

Frances Hellman Frances Hellman is a physicist who was dean of the division of mathematical and physical sciences at the University of California, Berkeley from 2015 until 2021. Her primary academic focus has been the study of the thermodynamic properties of no ...

,San Diego Reader "UCSD Big Money and Ball Club" http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/feb/24/ucsd-big-money-and-ball-club/ in May 1998 and they divorced in 2006. He married a former UCSD legal counsel and UC Associate of the President, Ann Parode,Appointment of Ann Parode Dynes as Associate of the President March 2007 Regent Minutes
/ref> in March 2007.

References

* *

Notes

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Robert Dynes on 30 March 2020, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & ArchivesHomepage of Robert C. Dynes at UC San Diego
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dynes, Robert C. 1942 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Canadian physicists Canadian emigrants to the United States McMaster University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from London, Ontario University of California regents University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Chancellors of the University of California, San Diego University of Western Ontario alumni Presidents of the University of California System Fellows of the American Physical Society Hellman family