Erwin Hahn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Erwin Louis Hahn (1921-06-09)June 9, 1921 |
| Died | September 20, 2016(2016-09-20) (aged 95) Berkeley, California |
| Alma mater | Juniata College University of Illinois |
| Awards | Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1971) Wolf Prize in Physics (1983/4) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | Stanford University University of California |
Erwin Louis Hahn (June 9, 1921 – September 20, 2016) was an Americanphysicist, best known for his work onnuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).[1] In 1950 he discovered thespin echo.[2]
He grew up inSewickley, Pennsylvania. He received hisB.S. in Physics fromJuniata College and hisM.S. andDoctor of Philosophy from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. He served as an enlisted sailor in theUnited States Navy and was an instructor on radar and sonar.[3]
He was professor of physics, from 1955 to 1991, and subsequently,Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. Hahn was elected a Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1971.[4]
In 1993 he was awarded theComstock Prize in Physics from theNational Academy of Sciences.[5] In 2013, SirPeter Mansfield said in his autobiography that Hahn was "the person who really missed out" theNobel Prize for his contribution to the principles of spin echoes.[6]
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.[7]
He died at the age of 95 in 2016.[8]
