Chaim Leib Pekeris (June 15, 1908 – February 24, 1993) was an Israeli-American physicist and

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

. He made notable contributions to

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

and the spectral theory of many-electron atoms, in particular the

Helium atom A helium atom is an atom of the chemical element helium. Helium is composed of two electrons bound by the electromagnetic force to a nucleus containing two protons along with either one or two neutrons, depending on the isotope, held together b ...

. He was also one of the designers of the first computer in Israel,

WEIZAC WEIZAC (''Weizmann Automatic Computer'') was the first computer in Israel, and one of the first large-scale, stored-program, electronic computers in the world. It was built at the Weizmann Institute during 1954–1955, based on the Institute for ...

Biography

Pekeris was born in

Alytus Alytus is a city with municipal rights in southern Lithuania. It is the capital of Alytus County. Its population in 2022 was 53,925. Alytus is the historical centre of the Dzūkija region. The city lies on the banks of the Nemunas River. T ...

Vilna Governorate The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; russian: Виленская губерния, ''Vilenskaya guberniya'', lt, Vilniaus gubernija, pl, gubernia wileńska) or Government of V ...

on June 15, 1908. With the assistance of his uncle, Pekeris and his two brothers emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

around 1925. He entered the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

in 1925 graduating in 1929 with a B.Sc. in meteorology. Pekeris also took his graduate studies at MIT, studying under

Carl-Gustav Rossby Carl-Gustaf Arvid Rossby ( 28 December 1898 – 19 August 1957) was a Swedish-born American meteorologist who first explained the large-scale motions of the atmosphere in terms of fluid mechanics. He identified and characterized both the jet ...

. He married Lea Kaplan, a Lithuanian born woman in January 1933. He graduated with his doctoral degree in 1933 as well. In 1934 Pekeris joined the faculty at M.I.T. as an instructor in

in the Department of Geology. He became a US citizen in 1938. Pekeris remained at M.I.T until 1941 when he moved to the Hudson Laboratories of

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

to conduct military research. In 1946 he joined the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

. Pekeris and his wife moved to Israel in 1948 where he joined the

Weizmann Institute The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli un ...

as head of its Department of Applied Mathematics in 1949. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War he was involved in a clandestine program in

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

developing munitions for the newborn State of Israel. He received the Gold Medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in 1980, and the Israel Prize from the State of Israel in 1981.

Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 19 ...

, the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, said in 1990: "I have told you a lot about Chaim Pekeris tonight and there is much more that I could tell, but you will understand that there are reasons that I can’t. Let me simply say that Chaim Pekeris played a most significant role in the establishment of the State of Israel." He died in

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu moveme ...

, Israel on February 24, 1993.

Awards and honors

Rockefeller Fellow The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carnegi ...

(1934) *

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its moti ...

(1941) *

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

(1946) * Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

(1971) * Member of 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 ...

(1972) *

Vetlesen Prize The Vetlesen Prize is a prize in geology awarded jointly by Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and the G. Unger Vetlesen Foundation. The prize is generally regarded as the highest distinction in geologic studies, and the " Nobe ...

(1974) * Member of the

(1974) *

Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society The Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is the highest award given by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The RAS Council have "complete freedom as to the grounds on which it is awarded" and it can be awarded for any reason. Past awa ...

(1980) * Israel Prize, for physics (1980).

References

External links

Biographical memoir by Freeman Gilbert
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pekeris, Chaim Leib 1908 births 1993 deaths American emigrants to Israel 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American physicists Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars 20th-century Israeli Jews Israeli mathematicians Israeli physicists Israel Prize in physics recipients Lithuanian Jews Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society Rockefeller Fellows 20th-century American mathematicians Jewish physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Lithuanian emigrants to the United States Members of the American Philosophical Society

Biography

Awards and honors

See also

References

External links