Description
Papers of James Langer, American professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These papers include
research files and publications, correspondence, clippings, handwritten lecture notes and calculations, and photographs from
his academic career as a graduate student while earning his PhD at the University of Birmingham, England, to his professional
career as a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon Institute, and as Director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics from 1985
to 1995. Materials also cover his time as President of the American Physical Society in 2000 and Vice President of the National
Academy of Sciences from 2001-2005.
Background
"James S. Langer is Professor of Physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
in 1934, Langer graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School in 1951. He attended Carnegie Institute of Technology and the
University of Birmingham, earning a B.A. in physics from the former in 1955 and a Ph.D. in mathematical physics from the latter
in 1958. A Marshall Scholar at Birmingham, his thesis advisor was Rudolf Peierls. After receiving his doctorate, he began
his career in the Physics Department at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (which later became Carnegie Mellon University),
where he would stay until 1982. He then joined UCSB's Institute for Theoretical Physics as professor. Between 1989 and 1995,
he served as its director. According to his profile at UCSB, Langer's research focuses on theories of nonequilibrium phenomena,
including the kinetics of phase transitions, pattern formation in crystal growth, the dynamics of earthquakes, and deformation
and failure in noncrystalline solids. Langer served as President of the American Physical Society in 2000 and as Vice President
of the United States National Academy of Sciences from 2001 to 2005. His awards include the APS's Oliver Buckley Prize in
1997." Wikipedia. 2019. "James S. Langer" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_S._Langer. Accessed on 11 December 2019.
Extent
12.92 linear feet
(10 cartons, 2 document boxes, 2 half document boxes, and 1 flat box)
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
Availability
This collection is open for research.