Summary
Stanley George Wojcicki[1] (/ˌvuːɪˈtʃɪtski/ VOO-ih-CHITS-kee;[2] born Stanisław Jerzy Wójcicki, Polish: [vujˈt͡ɕit͡skʲi]; March 30, 1937 – May 31, 2023)[3] was a Polish American professor emeritus and former chair of the physics department at Stanford University in California.[4]
Stanley Wojcicki | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stanisław Jerzy Wójcicki March 30, 1937 |
| Died | May 31, 2023 (aged 86) |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) UC Berkeley (MA, PhD) |
| Spouse | Esther Wojcicki |
| Children | 3, including Susan and Anne |
| Parents |
|
| Awards | Bruno Pontecorvo Prize (2011) Panofsky Prize (2015) |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Stanford |
| Thesis | Pion-Hyperon Resonances (1962) |
Early life and education edit
Wojcicki was born in Warsaw, Poland, the son of Janina Wanda Wójcicka (née Kozłowska), a bibliographer, and Franciszek Wójcicki, a lawyer.[1][5] He and his brother fled from Poland to Sweden with his mother at the age of 12, when communists came to power.[6] They eventually arrived in the United States. His father remained in Poland, and was soon imprisoned for five years for being a member of the government's main opposition party. He was never able to gain a visa to come to the United States.[6]
Wojcicki and his brother were sent to a boarding school run by the Franciscan Order near Buffalo, New York.[6] He excelled in mathematics and had thought of pursuing either engineering or medicine, but decided to study physics. He attended Harvard University on a scholarship and graduated with a BA. He later attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a PhD.[7]
Career edit
Wojcicki worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and was a National Science Foundation fellow at CERN and the Collège de France. In 1966, he joined the Stanford University physics faculty where he headed the Department of Physics from 1982–1985 and 2004–2007.[7]
Wojcicki has served as an advisor to government funding agencies (US and foreign) as well as to several high energy physics laboratories. He also headed the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, which advises the United States Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation on particle physics matters.[7]
Wojcicki led the HEPAP subpanel New Facilities for the US High-Energy Physics Program which recommended building the Super Conducting Super Collilder in 1983.[8][9]
Personal life edit
Stanley Wojcicki was the husband of fellow educator Esther Wojcicki, whom he met at UC Berkeley. They have three children and ten grandchildren.[10]
- Susan Wojcicki, former CEO of YouTube.[11] Google's first office was started in her home.[7][10][12]
- Janet Wojcicki, assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF.[10]
- Anne Wojcicki, founder and CEO of the genetic testing company 23andMe[10]
In 2010, his daughter Anne and her then-husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, endowed a $2.5 million chair in experimental physics at Stanford in her father's name.[7]
References edit
- ^ a b Who's who in the West. Vol. 31. Marquis Who's Who, Incorporated. 2004. ISBN 9780837909356.
- ^ "2016 Breakthrough Prize Symposium: Introducing the 2016 Laureates in Fundamental Physics" on YouTube
- ^ World-renowned physicist Stanley Wojcicki dies at 86
- ^ "Stanley Wojcicki - Stanford University Physics Faculty page". Retrieved 8 July 2012.
- ^ The Polish Review. Vol. 42. Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America. 1997. p. 123.
- ^ a b c Guthrie, Julian (April 6, 2013). "Bay Area's Wojcicki family honored". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Stanford Department of Physics: "Endowed Chairs and Professorships: Stanley G. Wojcicki Chair in Physics: First Endowed Chair in Experimental Physics Honors Beloved Professor" retrieved September 22, 2012
- ^ Riordan, Michael; Lillian Hoddeson; Adrienne W. Kolb (2015). Tunnel visions : the rise and fall of the superconducting super collider. Chicago. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-226-29479-7. OCLC 907132862.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Wojcicki, Stanley (January 2008). "The Supercollider: The Pre-Texas Days — A Personal Recollection of Its Birth and Berkeley Years". Reviews of Accelerator Science and Technology. 01 (1): 259–302. doi:10.1142/S1793626808000113. ISSN 1793-6268.
- ^ a b c d Esther Wojcicki retrieved September 21, 2012
- ^ "Google Names Susan Wojcicki CEO of YouTube". Variety. 5 February 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
- ^ USA Today: "The house that helped build Google" By Jefferson Graham July 5, 2007
- ^ "Q&A: Esther Wojcicki raised the CEO of YouTube, the CEO of 23andMe and a doctor. Here are her 5 rules for successful parenting". Deseret News. 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2024-02-18.
External links edit
- Scientific publications of Stanley Wojcicki on INSPIRE-HEP
- AIP Oral History Interview
- Stan Wojcicki Scientific Symposium, Nov 10, 2023