Charles Pence Slichter


Charles Pence Slichter was an American physicist, best known for his work on nuclear magnetic resonance and superconductivity.
He was awarded the 2007 National Medal of Science "for establishing nuclear magnetic resonance as a powerful tool to reveal the fundamental molecular properties of liquids and solids. His inspired teaching has led generations of physicists and chemists to develop a host of modern technologies in condensed matter physics, chemistry, biology and medicine."

Birth and education

Slichter was born in 1924 in Ithaca, New York. He attended Harvard University, where in 1949 received his Ph.D. under the supervision of Edward Purcell.

Career

Slichter was a professor of physics and chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1949 until his retirement in 2006.
He spent one sabbatical semester as Morris Loeb Lecturer at Harvard University. The lectures he gave there formed the nucleus of his book "Principles of Magnetic Resonance".
Slichter served as a member of the National Science Board from 1976–1984; as a member and vice-chair of the President's Science Advisory Committee from 1965–1969; as a member of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science, 1969–1974; and as a member of the President's Committee on Science and Technology Policy, 1976.
Slichter was a member of the Harvard Corporation, Harvard's senior governing body, from 1970–1995. He chaired the search committee that selected Neil Rudenstine as the president of Harvard in 1991.

Research

Slichter's research focused primarily on NMR and superconductivity. His most important work includes:
Other notable scientific contributions include the introduction of phase sensitive detection to pulsed NMR and its use to detect weak signals, studies of charge density waves and of the Kondo effect, the theory of ^F chemical shifts, NMR studies of high-temperature superconductivity, theory of the effects of chemical exchange on NMR spectra, and studies of NMR of metal surfaces.
Slichter was the recipient of numerous awards, in addition to the 2007 National Medal of Science. In 1993 Slichter was awarded the Comstock Prize in Physics from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1969 he received the Langmuir Prize, and 1996 the Buckley Prize, both from the American Physical Society. The American Chemical Society honored his discovery of J-coupling with a Citation for Chemical Breakthrough Award in 2016. Slichter was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow from 1955–1961.
Slichter received honorary Doctor of Science degrees from the University of Waterloo and Leipzig University, and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Harvard University in 1996.

Family

Slichter was the son of economist Sumner Slichter, the grandson of mathematician Charles S. Slichter, the nephew of geophysicist Louis B. Slichter, the father of musician Jacob Slichter, and brother of Bell Labs executive William P. Slichter.

Books

*