Robert Gomer (24 March 1924, in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

– 12 December 2016) was an Austrian scientist known for his research on

field electron emission Field electron emission, also known as field-induced electron emission, field emission (FE) and electron field emission, is the emission of electrons from a material placed in an electrostatic field. The most common context is field emission from ...

and field ionization, and his role as an adviser to the United States government. He was educated at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists ...

and the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

, where he received his doctorate in 1949. From 1949 to 1950, he was a postdoctoral fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and worked with G. B. Kistiakowsky. He subsequently moved to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he was a professor of chemistry in the James Franck Institute and the department of chemistry. From 1977 to 1983 he served as director of the James Franck Institute and in 1984 he was appointed Carl William Eisendrath Distinguished Service Professor. He has been honored with numerous awards, including the A. von Humboldt Society Senior U.S. Science Award, the Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society, the Medard W. Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society, and the Arthur W. Adamson Award for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Surface Chemistry. He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

in 1981. Prior to his retirement he worked on the editorial boards of several journals, including the ''Journal of Chemical Physics'', ''Applied Physics'', and ''Annual Review of Physical Chemistry''. He served on numerous scientific committees, including the President's Science Advisory Committee (1961-1965) and the advisory committee for the Directorate of Physical Sciences, Air Force Office of Scientific Research (1961-1975), and was a member of the board of directors of the Universities Space Research Association (1976-1978). He is the author of ''Field Emission and Field Ionization'' (American Vacuum Society Classics), a pioneering vacuum text based on four lectures presented at Harvard University in 1958. He was also a member of the JASON Defense Advisory Group, where he worked to discourage the use of nuclear weapons in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

.The Nautilus Institute: Vietnam FOIA JASONs Group

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomer, Robert 1924 births 2016 deaths Austrian chemists Harvard Fellows University of Chicago faculty University of Rochester alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Scientists from Vienna American physical chemists Austrian emigrants to the United States Pomona College alumni