Solomon J. Buchsbaum | |
|---|---|
 Solomon J. Buchsbaum. | |
| Born | (1929-12-04)December 4, 1929 |
| Died | March 8, 1993(1993-03-08) (aged 63) New Jersey, U.S. |
Solomon J. Buchsbaum (December 4, 1929 – March 8, 1993) was aPolish American physicist and technologist, best known as chair of theWhite House Science Council under PresidentsRonald Reagan andGeorge H. W. Bush, and as a senior executive atBell Laboratories.
Born inStryj,Poland, Buchsbaum's parents and youngest sister were murdered in theHolocaust. He and his other sister escaped capture by the Nazis and made their way toWarsaw, where he was protected in aCatholic orphanage. There he recited Mass and became an altar boy. After the war, as a teenager, Buchsbaum made his way toCanada where he learned English and found a job in a hat factory. With no previous formal training, he won a scholarship toMcGill University in physics and mathematics, there earning a bachelor's degree in 1952, and a master's degree a year later. He received his Ph.D. fromMIT in 1957.[1]
Buchsbaum's career at Bell began as a researcher on gaseous and solid plasmas in 1958. Rising through the ranks, he became vice president in charge of technology systems in 1979. In his 35 years at Bell Labs, he published 50 articles and was awarded 8 patents.[2] Nobel LaureateArno Penzias called him the "vice president in charge of everything else," meaning everything that was not directly phone company business.[1]
Buchsbaum's career as a Presidential advisor began with his membership on President Nixon's Science Advisory Committee and continued with President Ford's Committee on Science and Technology. Under Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush he was chair of the corresponding committees. He was chairman of theDefense Science Board from 1972 to 1977.[2]
Among other boards, Buchsbaum served on those ofMIT,Stanford University, theRand Corporation,Draper Laboratory, and theArgonne andSandia National Laboratories.[2]
Buchsbaum's honors included theNational Medal of Science (from President Reagan) and various defense and energy department medals.[2][3]
He died in 1993, in New Jersey, ofmultiple myeloma, after receiving a bone marrow transplant and spending more than a month in a germ-free "bubble", equipped with a telephone and fax machine so that he could conduct "business as usual".[1]
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