Robert Carr Dynes (born November 8, 1942) is a Canadian-American physicist, researcher, and academic administrator, and professor of physics at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, and the former president of the University of California system, and former

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Biography

Early years

Dynes was born in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

in 1964. He then earned master's (1965) and doctorate (1968) degrees in physics from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1984.

Career

Dynes worked at

Bell Laboratories Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, the company operates several lab ...

from 1964 to 1990, studying

semiconductors A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping levels ...

and

superconductors Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases ...

. He then became professor of physics at the

(UCSD), in 1991. In 1996 he became Chancellor of the UCSD campus, then in 2003 was chosen to be the 18th President of the University of California system. Dynes' scientific honors include the 1990

Fritz London Fritz Wolfgang London (March 7, 1900 – March 30, 1954) was a German born physicist and professor at Duke University. His fundamental contributions to the theories of chemical bonding and of intermolecular forces (London dispersion forces) are to ...

Memorial Prize in Low Temperature Physics and his 2001 election to the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, a society to which he was elected in 1989. Dynes is a fellow of 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 ...

(1981), the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. Dynes remains active in his research and heads a modest sized low temperature physics laboratory at Berkeley. After five tumultuous years as President of UC, filled with compensation scandals, the suicide of UCSC Chancellor Denice Denton and other challenges, on August 13, 2007, Dynes announced he would resign his position as the President of the University of California to return to his teaching position and spend time with his new wife, Ann Parode. He resigned on August 16. 2007, and was replaced by Mark Yudof, formerly chancellor of the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

. In November 2008, Dynes' close aide and his UC Associate President Linda Morris Williams was awarded a controversial pay out and re-hired as an Associate Chancellor at University of California, Berkeley by Chancellor Robert Birgeneau. This event led President Mark Yudof to make changes to the buy out program.

Personal life

Dynes naturalized to the United States in 1984. He married Cristel Dynes in 1968 and they divorced in January 1998. He married a physics professor,

Frances Hellman Frances Hellman is a physicist who was dean of the division of mathematical and physical sciences at the University of California, Berkeley from 2015 until 2021. Her primary academic focus has been the study of the thermodynamics, thermodynamic ...

,San Diego Reader "UCSD Big Money and Ball Club" http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2000/feb/24/ucsd-big-money-and-ball-club/ in May 1998 and they divorced in 2006. He married a former UCSD legal counsel and UC Associate of the President, Ann Parode,Appointment of Ann Parode Dynes as Associate of the President March 2007 Regent Minutes
/ref> in March 2007.

References

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Notes

External links

Oral history interview transcript with Robert Dynes on 30 March 2020, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & ArchivesHomepage of Robert C. Dynes at UC San Diego
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dynes, Robert C. 1942 births Living people 21st-century American physicists Canadian physicists Canadian emigrants to the United States McMaster University alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from London, Ontario University of California regents University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Chancellors of the University of California, San Diego University of Western Ontario alumni Presidents of the University of California System Fellows of the American Physical Society Hellman family