Kenneth M. Case
The Rockefeller University
September 23, 1923 - February 1, 2006
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Scientific Discipline: Applied Physical Sciences Membership Type:
Member
(elected 1975)
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Kenneth Case made major advances in theoretical physics, applied and mathematical physics, and national defense while at Harvard University, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), the University of Rochester, the University of Michigan, and the Rockefeller University, and as a member of Jason (a longtime collaboration of eminent physicists). While still an undergraduate, Case did significant research as a participant in the Manhattan Project, the World War II program to create the world’s first nuclear weapon.
The young Case’s initial plan was to study chemical engineering in college. But almost immediately after entering Harvard in 1941 he fell under the spell of physics. He earned all of his physics degrees there—a BS in 1945, an MS in 1946, and a PhD in 1948; his dissertation involved “The Magnetic Moments of the Neutron and Proton.” Case then accepted a postdoctoral position at the IAS followed by a postdoc at Rochester. He joined the physics faculty at Michigan in 1951 and spent the next 18 years there, ultimately moving to Rockefeller, where he was a professor of physics until his retirement in 1988 and a professionally active emeritus professor until his death in 2006. Also during retirement, Case served as adjunct professor at UC San Diego’s Institute of Nonlinear Studies.
Over his first 10 years or so at Michigan, Case gradually shifted his main research interests from fundamental to applied physics problems. Also during this time he joined Jason, which he served as a defense-policy analyst until the early 2000s. This work covered a wide range of issues, including nuclear-submarine detection (or stealth) and “adaptive optics” for improving telescopes’ accuracy in identifying spy satellites.
