Professor of Physics, 1935 to 1945

This plaque commemorates the seminal research of the renowned Dr. Edward Teller during his tenure at The George Washington University.

By agreement with GW Professor George Gamow, President Cloyd Heck Marvin invited the Hungarian-born Teller to join the Physics Department in 1935. During the next six years, while enthusiastically reaching the new quantum theory and before taking a leave of absence for the war effort, Teller lent his wide knowledge and clear thinking to a series of pioneering works in physical chemistry, nuclear physics, and astrophysics. His subjects included absorption of molecules on surfaces, shapes of molecular bonds, radioactive decay by spin flip, structure of neutron stars, formation of nebulae, and energy production in red giants.

Teller received the Enrico Fermi Award from President John F. Kennedy and the National Medal of Science from President Ronald Reagan for his outstanding contribution to molecular physics, to the understanding of the origin of stellar energy, to the theory and application of fusion reactions, to the field of nuclear safety, and for his continued leadership in science and technology.

His colleagues remember the precise, profound, and prodigious character of Professor Teller’s mind.

The George

Washington

University

Washington DC

2002

Marker is on 21st Street, NW south of H Street, NW, on the left when traveling south.

Courtesy hmdb.org

Credits and Sources: