Frederick Seitz *34

Frederick Seitz, a distinguished physicist and president emeritus of Rockefeller University, died March 2, 2008. He was 96.

Seitz received a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1932, and then a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton in 1934. During World War II, he worked on military applications of research, including the atomic bomb. His 1940 textbook, The Modern Theory of Solids, was very important to the development of solid-state physics and of transistors. He had taught at several universities.

Seitz was president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1962 to 1969, and from 1968 to 1978 he was president of Rockefeller University. During his presidency at Rockefeller, many new research programs were initiated. In 1973, he received the National Medal of Science, the nation’s highest scientific award.

Princeton awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1964. From 1968 to 1972, he was an alumni trustee of Princeton University. In 1978 he received the James Madison Medal, the University’s highest award for a graduate alumnus.

Outside his area of expertise, Seitz, in his later years, held views contrary to those predominant on global warming.

Elizabeth, his wife of more than 50 years, died in 1992. He is survived by a son, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.