About John Hasbrouck Van Vleck
John Hasbrouck Van Vleck (; March 13, 1899 – October 27, 1980) was an American physicist and mathematician who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1977 for his contributions to the understanding of the behavior of electronic magnetism in solids. He shared the Prize with Philip W. Anderson and Nevill Mott. == Early life and education == John Hasbrouck Van Vleck was born on March 13, 1899, to mathematician Edward Burr Van Vleck and Hester L. Raymond in Middletown, Connecticut, while his father was an assistant professor at Wesleyan University, and where his grandfather, astronomer John Monroe Van Vleck, was also a professor. He grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and received an A.B. degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1920, before earning his Ph.D. at Harvard University in 1922 under the supervision of Edwin C. Kemble. == Career and research == He joined the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor in 1923, then moved to the University of Wisconsin before settling at Harvard. He also earned Honorary D. Sc., or D. Honoris Causa, degree from Wesleyan University in 1936. J. H. Van Vleck established the fundamentals of the quantum mechanical theory of magnetism, crystal field theory and ligand field theory (chemical bonding in metal complexes). He is regarded as the Father of Modern Magnetism. During World War II, J. H. Van Vleck worked on radar at the MIT Radiation Lab. He was half time at the Radiation Lab and half time on the staff at Harvard.
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