Honorary Doctorate for Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch
The Barl-Ilan University of Israel is awarding him for his groundbreaking work in laser spectroscopy.
Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch, Director at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching and leader of the Laser Spectroscopy Division has been conferred the Honorary Doctorate from Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. The award was given to him on June 3, 2008, at a ceremony marking 60 years of Israeli independence.
From the Press Release of Bar-Ilan University (spokesman.office@mail.biu.ac.il)
“Prof. Hänsch is being recognized for his groundbreaking work in laser spectroscopy, which has enabled optical frequencies to be measured with a high degree of precision, thereby advancing basic physics research and the development of technological applications beneficial to humanity.
In the context of his work on laser light, in which the dual nature of electromagnetic radiation is underscored, Prof. Theodor Hänsch and his colleague, Prof. John Hall of the University of Colorado, developed an exceedingly precise method of measuring light frequencies. This method is expected to lead to advances in long-distance communication and in navigation on earth (via GPS devices, for example) and in outer space, as well as to the development of more sophisticated telescopes. For their work in this area, they shared one half of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics, with the other half going to Prof. Roy Glauber of Harvard University for his theoretical work on the statistical properties of laser light.
Theodor Wolfgang Hänsch was born in 1941 in Heidelberg, Germany. He studied physics at the University of Heidelberg, earning his doctorate in 1969. He went on to post-doctoral study in the United States, and was a professor of physics at Stanford University from 1975-1986. During this period his research focused on high resolution spectroscopy (the field concerned with measuring the electromagnetic spectrum). While at Stanford, he and Prof. Art Schawlow invented Doppler laser cooling, which has been a cornerstone for modern optical physics. On his return to Germany, Prof. Hänsch became Director of the Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik and as Professor of Experimental Physics and Laser Spectroscopy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. ...
…Prof. Hänsch is an occasional visitor to Bar-Ilan University and has collaborated with researchers in the University’s Department of Physics....”
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Theodor W. Hänsch
Professor of Physics, LMU Munich
Director at Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Hans-Kopfermann-Straße 1, 85748 Garching
Phone: +49 (0)89 32 905 -702/-712 / Fax: -312
E-mail: t.w.haensch@mpq.mpg.de
Dr. Olivia Meyer-Streng
Press & Public Relations
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics, Garching
Phone: +49 (0)89 32 905 -213
E-mail: olivia.meyer-streng@mpq.mpg.de