John Lewis "Jan" Hall (born August 21, 1934) is 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 ...

, and Nobel laureate in physics. He shared the 2005

Nobel Prize in Physics ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , alt = A golden medallion with an embossed image of a bearded man facing left in profile. To the left of the man is the text "ALFR•" then "NOBEL", and on the right, the text (smaller) "NAT•" then " ...

with Theodor W. Hänsch and Roy Glauber for his work in precision spectroscopy.

Biography

Born in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Hall holds three degrees from

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

, a

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 1956, an M.S. in 1958, and a

Ph.D. 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 ...

in 1961. He completed his postdoctoral studies at the Department of Commerce's

National Bureau of Standards The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...

, now the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical s ...

(NIST), where he remained from 1962 until his retirement in 2004. He has lectured at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

since 1967. Hall is currently a NIST Senior Fellow, Emeritus and remains a Fellow at

JILA JILA, formerly known as the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, is a physical science research institute in the United States. JILA is located on the University of Colorado Boulder campus. JILA was founded in 1962 as a joint institute ...

, formerly the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, and Lecturer at the CU-Boulder Physics Department. JILA is a research institute managed jointly by CU-Boulder and NIST. Hall shared half of the Nobel prize with Theodor W. Hänsch for their pioneering work on laser-based precision spectroscopy and the optical

frequency comb In optics, a frequency comb is a laser source whose spectrum consists of a series of discrete, equally spaced frequency lines. Frequency combs can be generated by a number of mechanisms, including periodic modulation (in amplitude and/or phase) of a ...

technique. The other half of the prize was awarded to Roy J. Glauber. Hall has received many other honors for his pioneering work, including the

Optical Society of America Optica (formerly known as The Optical Society (OSA) and before that as the Optical Society of America) is a professional society of individuals and companies with an interest in optics and photonics. It publishes journals and organizes conference ...

's Max Born Award "for pioneering the field of stable lasers, including their applications in fundamental physics and, most recently, in the stabilization of femtosecond lasers to provide dramatic advances in optical frequency metrology". Hall is one of the 20 American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics to sign a letter addressed to President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

in May of 2008, urging him to "reverse the damage done to basic science research in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill" by requesting additional emergency funding for the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

’s

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...

, the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, and the

. In 2015, Hall signed the Mainau Declaration 2015 on Climate Change on the final day of the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting. The declaration was signed by a total of 76 Nobel Laureates and handed to then-President of the French Republic, François Hollande, as part of the successful COP21 climate summit in Paris.

Honours and awards

*National Carbon Company Fellow in Physics, 1957–1961 * Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 1969 * Samuel W. Stratton Award, 1971 *Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 1974 (group awards) *IR-100: Laser stabilizer selected as one of "100 best new products of the year," 1975 *IR-100: Laser wavelength meter ("Lambdameter") selected as one of "100 best new products of the year," 1977 *E. U. Condon Award, 1979 * Charles Hard Townes Award of the

, 1984, jointly with V. P. Chebotayev (Academy of Sciences, USSR) *Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society, 1988 *Docteur Honoris Causa de l'Universite Paris Nord, 1989 *Frederic Ives Medal of the

, 1991 * Einstein Prize for Laser Science, 1992 * Arthur L. Shawlow Prize of the American Physical Society, 1993 * Allen V. Astin Measurement Science Award, 2000 * Max Born Award of the

, 2002 *

Presidential Rank Award The Presidential Rank Awards program is an individual award program granted by the United States government to career Senior Executive Service (SES) members and Senior Career Employees within the OPM-allocated Senior-Level (SL) or Scientific-Profes ...

from the Office of Personnel Management, 2002 *Department of Commerce Gold Medal, 2002 (group awards) *Rabi Award of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society, 2004 *

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

Membership, 2004 *

, 2005 *Golden Plate Award of the

American Academy of Achievement The American Academy of Achievement, colloquially known as the Academy of Achievement, is a non-profit educational organization that recognizes some of the highest achieving individuals in diverse fields and gives them the opportunity to meet ...

, 2006 *Doctor of Science, ''honoris causa'',

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, 2007

References

External links

*
CV and publication list

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

JILA

Comb generating optical cavity that includes an optical amplifier and an optical modulator (John Lewis Hall)
Hall's website
taken at ''Lasers'' '92 including, right to left,

Marlan Scully Marlan Orvil Scully (born August 3, 1939) is an American physicist best known for his work in theoretical quantum optics. He is a professor at Texas A&M University and Princeton University. Additionally, in 2012 he developed a lab at the Baylor ...

Willis Lamb Willis Eugene Lamb Jr. (; July 12, 1913 – May 15, 2008) was an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1955 "for his discoveries concerning the fine structure of the hydrogen spectrum." The Nobel Committee that year awarded hal ...

, John L. Hall, and F. J. Duarte. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, John L. 1934 births Living people People from Denver Alumni of the University of Glasgow American Nobel laureates 21st-century American physicists Optical physicists Laser researchers Carnegie Mellon University alumni Nobel laureates in Physics University of Colorado Boulder faculty Honorary members of Optica (society) Fellows of Optica (society) Department of Commerce Gold Medal Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Spectroscopists Fellows of the American Physical Society