Erwin Louis Hahn (June 9, 1921 – September 20, 2016) 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 ...

(NMR).Filler, AG: The history, development, and impact of computed imaging in neurological diagnosis and neurosurgery: CT, MRI, DTI
Nature Precedings
. In 1950 he discovered the

spin echo In magnetic resonance, a spin echo or Hahn echo is the refocusing of spin magnetisation by a pulse of resonant electromagnetic radiation. Modern nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) make use of this effect. The NMR ...

Education

He grew up in

Sewickley, Pennsylvania Sewickley is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, west northwest of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River. It is a residential suburb of Pittsburgh. The population was 3,827 according to the 2010 census. The Sewickley Bridge crosses the Ohio ...

. He received his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Physics from Juniata College and his M.S. and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from 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 Univer ...

. He served as an enlisted sailor in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and was an instructor on radar and sonar.

Career and research

He was professor of physics, from 1955 to 1991, and subsequently,

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

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 ...

. Hahn was elected a Fellow of 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 ...

in 1971. In 1993 he 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 2013, Sir

Peter Mansfield Sir Peter Mansfield (9 October 1933 – 8 February 2017) was an English physicist who was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, shared with Paul Lauterbur, for discoveries concerning Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Mansfi ...

said in his autobiography that Hahn was "the person who really missed out" the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

for his contribution to the principles of spin echoes. He also received the 2016 Gold Medal from the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). The award, ISMRM's highest honor, was given to Hahn for his creation of pulsed magnetic resonance and processes of signal refocusing which are essential to modern day MRI. He died at the age of 95 in 2016.

References

External links

Oral History interview transcript with Erwin L. Hahn on 21 August 1986, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives

The Transformative Genius of Erwin Hahn - Interview published 8 May 2016, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Highlights.
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Download the entire Highlights print supplement featuring this story at: http://www.ismrm.org/MRM/mrm_highlights_magazine.pdf
1921 births 2016 deaths Juniata College alumni American physicists American nuclear physicists Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign Members of the Royal Society Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize winners People from Sharon, Pennsylvania Stanford University faculty University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Wolf Prize in Physics laureates United States Navy sailors {{US-physicist-stub

Education

Career and research

See also

References

External links