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Robert Woodrow Wilson
<html> <head> <title>Robert Woodrow Wilson</title> <meta name="googlebot" content="noodp"> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" href="/silly-nndb-icon.png" /><style type="text/css"> <!-- .fotmbar { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: none} .fotmbar:hover { color: #FFFFFF; text-decoration: underline} .newslink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .newslink:hover { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink { color: #000000; text-decoration: none} .proflink:hover { color: blue; text-decoration: underline} .b1f, .b2f, .b3f, .b4f {font-size:1px; overflow:hidden; display:block;} .b1f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 5px;} .b2f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 3px;} .b3f {height:1px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 2px;} .b4f {height:2px; background:#e6e6e6; margin:0 1px;} .contentf {background: #e6e6e6; padding: 2px; } .contentf div {margin-left: 5px;} --> </style></head> <body bgcolor=#ffffff> <center> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr><td valign=top><table width=550 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td bgcolor=white><table width="100%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" background="/nndb.gif"> <tr> <td rowspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><a href="http://www.nndb.com/"><img src="/title.gif" width="260" height="50" border=0 alt="NNDB"></a></td> <td><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="6"> <tr align="center"> <td width="25%" nowrap><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This is a beta version of NNDB</font></b></td> </tr> </table></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right" valign="middle"><b><font size="-1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> <form action="http://search.nndb.com/search/nndb.cgi" method="get"> <input type="hidden" name="nndb" value="1"></input> <nobr>Search: <select name="omenu"> <option value="unspecified" selected>All Names</option> <option value="living">Living people</option> <option value="dead">Dead people</option> <option value="bands">Band Names</option> <option value="books">Book Titles</option> <option value="movies">Movie Titles</option> <option value="fulltext">Full Text</option> </select> for <input name="query" value="" size=24 maxlength=96> <input type=submit value="Search"> </font></b></nobr></form></td> </tr> </table> <!-- COPYRIGHT (C) 2008 SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED --> <!-- NO PART OF THIS WEBSITE MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION --> <!-- OF SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS (ON THE WEB, IN PRINT, OR OTHERWISE) --> <!-- --> <!-- SOYLENT COMMUNICATIONS --> <!-- PO BOX 4436, MOUNTAIN VIEW CA 94040 USA --> </td></tr><tr><td bgcolor=red height=2></td></tr><map name=fool><area coords="102,0,240,14" href="/people/938/000099641/bibliography/" alt="bibliography"></map><tr bgcolor=F0F0F0><td bgcolor=F0F0F0 style="padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;"><img src="/red-profile-2.gif" align="right" height=15 width=240 border=0 usemap=#fool><br clear="all"><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width=100%><tr><td bgcolor=F0F0F0><font size=+3 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Robert Woodrow Wilson</b></font><p><img src="robert-woodrow-wilson-1-sized.jpg" height=312 width=213 align=right hspace=10 vspace=10 alt="Robert Woodrow Wilson"><b>Born:</b> <a href="/lists/527/000106209/" class=proflink>10-Jan</a>-<a href="/lists/935/000105620/" class=proflink>1936</a><br><b>Birthplace:</b> <a href="/geo/540/000069333/" class=proflink>Houston, TX</a><br><p><b>Gender:</b> Male<br><b>Race or Ethnicity:</b> White<br><b>Sexual orientation:</b> Straight<br><b>Occupation:</b> <a href="/lists/628/000096340/" class=proflink>Astronomer</a>, <a href="/lists/629/000096341/" class=proflink>Physicist</a><p><b>Nationality:</b> United States<br><b>Executive summary:</b> Detected primordial radiation<p>American astrophysicist Robert Woodrow Wilson developed an interest in electronics and radio transmissions as a youngster. In his high school years he earned spending money by repairing radio and television sets, built his own hi-fi system, and helped ham operators build and fix their machinery, though he says he lost interest in such devices as soon as they were working again. He studied under <a href="/people/287/000167783/">John G. Bolton</a> and <a href="/people/426/000172907/">Maarten Schmidt</a> at CalTech, worked at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, and was hired at the Bell Telephone Laboratories at Holmdel, New Jersey in 1963, where he was the second radio astronomer alongside <a href="/people/935/000099638/">Arno Penzias</a>. When budget cuts were announced, and Bell decided it could only afford one radio astronomer, Wilson and Penzias offered to cut their paid work to half-time, and both continued their work there, using an advanced radio telescope to monitor radio waves from the Milky Way galaxy.<p> In 1964, they discovered a consistent background buzz received from all directions, which they first suspected was a mechanical problem or a reflection of terrestrial broadcasting. Instead, further research revealed that they had discovered cosmic background radiation, a quiet but consistent remnant of the "big bang" that began the universe some 15 billion years ago. They were promptly returned to full-time status, and both scientists were honored with the Nobel Prize in 1978, sharing the accolade with <a href="/people/932/000099635/">Pyotr Kapitsa</a>, who conducted unrelated research into low-temperature physics. Wilson's later work has included millimeter wave astronomy, measuring the sun's radiation in the earth's atmosphere, quantifying interstellar isotopes, and investigating the properties of molecules detected in open space.<p><b>Father:</b> Ralph W. Wilson (oil worker)<br><b>Mother:</b> Fannie Willis Wilson<br><b>Wife:</b> Elizabeth Rhoads Sawin ("Betsy", m. 1958, three children)<br><b>Son:</b> Philip (b. circa 1962)<br><b>Daughter:</b> Suzanne (b. 1963)<br><b>Son:</b> Randal (b. 1967)<br><p> High School: <a href="/edu/887/000165392/">Lamar High School, Houston, TX (1953)</a><br> University: <a href="/edu/566/000068362/">BA Physics, Rice University (1957)</a><br> University: <a href="/edu/584/000082338/">PhD Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology (1962)</a><br> Scholar: <a href="/edu/584/000082338/">Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology (1958-63)</a><br> Fellow: <a href="/edu/584/000082338/">Research, California Institute of Technology (1962-63)</a><br> Teacher: <a href="/edu/323/000082077/">State University of New York (1978-)</a><br><p> <a href="/honors/753/000167252/">Henry Draper Medal</a> 1977 (with <a href="/people/935/000099638/">Arno Penzias</a>)<br> <u>RAS Herschel Medal</u> 1977<br> <a href="/honors/201/000067997/">Nobel Prize for Physics</a> 1978 (with <a href="/people/935/000099638/">Arno Penzias</a> and <a href="/people/932/000099635/">Pyotr Kapitsa</a>)<br> <a href="/company/927/000099630/">Bell Laboratories</a> Director, Radio Physics Research (1976-)<br> <a href="/company/927/000099630/">Bell Laboratories</a> Research staff (1963-76)<br> <a href="/company/141/000048994/">Exxon</a> Summer work (1957)<br> <a href="/org/811/000055646/">American Academy of Arts and Sciences</a> <br> <a href="/org/866/000117515/">American Astronomical Society</a> <br> <a href="/org/496/000071283/">American Physical Society</a> <br> <a href="/org/374/000104062/">International Astronomical Union</a> <br> <a href="/org/603/000052447/">IEEE</a> <br> <u>International Union of Radio Sciences</u> <br> <a href="/org/692/000054530/">National Academy of Sciences</a> 1979<br> <a href="/org/512/000041389/">Phi Beta Kappa Society</a> <br> <a href="/org/457/000041334/">Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society</a> <br><p> <br> <p> <table> <tr> <td align=right valign=middle style="padding-right: 5px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 22px; font-style: italic; color: #ff3333;">New!</span><br> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/" class="fotmlink" style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; color: #dd0000;">NNDB MAPPER</a></td> <td valign=middle align=right style="border-left: 1px solid #bbb; padding-left: 5px;">Create a map starting with</td> <td valign=middle align=right><a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=99641"><img src="/man.gif" border=0 style="padding: 2px;"></a></td> <td align=left valign=middle> <a href="http://mapper.nndb.com/start/?id=99641">Robert Woodrow Wilson</a></td> </tr> </table> <font face="Trebuchet MS, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Requires Flash 7+ and Javascript.</font> <br><br><p> <font size=-1>Do you know something we don't?</font><br> <font size=-1><a href="http://commentary.nndb.com/submit/feedback/?id=99641" rel="nofollow">Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile</a></font><br> <p> <br><br><p><font size=-1>Copyright ©2019 Soylent Communications</font><p> </td></tr></table> </td></tr> </table> </td> <td width=180 align="center" valign="top" style="padding: 0px 0px 8px 25px;"></td></tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>