David Norman Schramm (October 25, 1945 – December 19, 1997) was an American astrophysicist and educator, and one of the world's foremost experts on the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

theory. Schramm was a pioneer in establishing particle astrophysics as a vibrant research field. He was particularly well known for the study of

Big Bang nucleosynthesis In physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (abbreviated BBN, also known as primordial nucleosynthesis) is the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen ( hydrogen-1, 1H, having a single proton as a nucleu ...

and its use as a probe of

dark matter Dark matter is a hypothetical form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the matter in the universe. Dark matter is called "dark" because it does not appear to interact with the electromagnetic field, which means it does not ...

(both baryonic and non-baryonic) and of neutrinos. He also made important contributions to the study of

cosmic rays Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our ...

supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or whe ...

explosions, heavy-element

nucleosynthesis Nucleosynthesis is the process that creates new atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons (protons and neutrons) and nuclei. According to current theories, the first nuclei were formed a few minutes after the Big Bang, through nuclear reactions in ...

, and nuclear astrophysics generally.

Biography

David Schramm was born in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and earned his master's degree in physics from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

in 1967, where he was also a member of the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek-letter organization founded in North Americ ...

fraternity and the wrestling squad. He earned a Ph.D in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1971 under Willy Fowler and Gerry Wasserburg. After a brief time as faculty at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

where he also played Prop for the Austin Huns Rugby Club alongside Pat Lochridge, he accepted a professorship at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where he spent the rest of his career. Schramm received the Robert J. Trumpler Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific in 1974, the Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy from the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in 1978, and he was awarded the

Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize The Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society, to remember Julius Edgar Lilienfeld, has been awarded annually, since 1989. (It was not awarded in 2002). The purpose of the Prize is to recognize outstanding contributions to phy ...

from the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

in 1993. He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

in 1986. Schramm, an avid private pilot, died on 19 December 1997, when his Swearingen-Fairchild SA-226 crashed near

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. He was the sole occupant of the aircraft. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

found the cause to be pilot error. At the time of his death he was Vice President for Research and Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor in the Physical Sciences at the

Legacy

The David N. Schramm Award for High Energy Astrophysics Science Journalism was created in his honour in the year 2000 by the High-Energy Astrophysics Division of the

Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been oper ...

hosts the David Schramm Fellowship in theoretical or experimental astrophysics. Schramm also leaves a legacy of former graduate students and postdocs, many of whom work in astrophysics around the world, including Brian Fields (Professor of Astronomy and Physics at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...

), Katherine Freese (George Uhlenbeck Professor at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and Director of Nordita, the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics in Stockholm),

Craig Hogan Craig Hogan is a Professor of Astronomy and Physics at the University of Chicago and he is the director of the Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics. He is known for his theory of " holographic noise", which holds that holographic principle m ...

(Professor of Astronomy and Physics at the

and Director of the

Center for Astroparticle Physics), James Lattimer (Distinguished Professor of Astronomy, SUNY Stony Brook), Angela Olinto (Chair, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at

), Keith Olive (Director of the William I Fine Theoretical Physics Institute at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

), and many others. Asteroid 113952 Schramm, discovered by the

Sloan Digital Sky Survey The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States. The project began in 2000 ...

Apache Point Observatory The Apache Point Observatory (APO; obs. code: 705) is an astronomical observatory located in the Sacramento Mountains in Sunspot, New Mexico, United States, approximately south of Cloudcroft. The observatory is operated by New Mexico State Un ...

in 2002, was named in his memory. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Function T ...

on 30 January 2010 ().

References

External links

Guide to the David N. Schramm Papers 1960-1998
at th
University of Chicago Special Collections Research CenterMichael S. Turner, "David Norman Schramm", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schramm, David 1945 births 1997 deaths American astrophysicists Physicists from Missouri Scientists from Missouri Scientists from St. Louis MIT Department of Physics alumni California Institute of Technology alumni University of Chicago faculty Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Colorado 20th-century American physicists 20th-century American astronomers Fellows of the American Physical Society Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1997