Roger Millikan: Difference between revisions
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1931|1|27|mf=y}} | | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|1|27|mf=y}} | ||
| birth_place = Tiffin, Ohio, United States | | birth_place = Tiffin, Ohio, United States | ||
| death_date = {{death date|2019|9|9| | | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|9|9|1931|1|27}} | ||
| residence = Santa Barbara, CA, United States | | residence = Santa Barbara, CA, United States | ||
| nationality = American | | nationality = American | ||
Latest revision as of 16:15, 20 July 2026
Roger Millikan | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 27, 1931 Tiffin, Ohio, United States |
| Died | September 9, 2019 (aged 88) |
| Residence | Santa Barbara, CA, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Oberlin College; University of California, Berkeley |
| Known for | elementary particles |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physical chemistry, elementary particles |
| Institutions | General Electric Research Laboratory; University of California, Santa Barbara |
Roger Conant Millikan (January 27, 1931 – September 9, 2019) was an American physical chemist and professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara. His laboratory research concerned the vibrational energy transfer of gases and combustion, and later in life he developed a "light front theory of the electron and its excited states," an approach concerned with the structure of elementary particles.
Biography
Millikan was born on January 27, 1931, in Tiffin, Ohio. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Oberlin College in Ohio, where he studied thermodynamics under Luke E. Steiner, and went on to complete a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley.
After graduate school, Millikan worked for about a decade as a research chemist at the General Electric Research Laboratory in Schenectady, New York. In 1967 he moved to California to join the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, as a professor of chemistry, where he served for 25 years until his retirement in 1992. He remained active as a professor emeritus, teaching on a recall basis and editing the department's alumni newsletter.
He died on September 9, 2019, at the age of 88.
Scientific contributions
At General Electric, Millikan measured the spatial variation of soot absorption in flames, showing that soot's absorption properties varied by position and were linked to chemical composition. He is credited as a co-discoverer of the BO2 molecule, which is responsible for the green coloration of boron-containing flames.
Millikan's studies of vibrational energy transfer and the systematics of vibrational relaxation in gases contributed to work of NASA's Scientific and Technical Information Division, and enabled analysis of the effects of vibrational relaxation on the induction period of the hydrogen–oxygen reaction.
In his later work he pursued a "light front theory of the electron and its excited states," a model addressing the structure of elementary particles.
Honors
Millikan was a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (now Optica), elected in 1982, and later held emeritus membership in the society.