Robert E. Warner Papers, 1959-2002
| Oberlin College Archives
Administrative/Biographical History
Robert Edson Warner was born on April 11, 1931. He received the BS degree from Antioch College in 1954 and the Ph D from the University of Rochester in 1959. Before joining the Oberlin College faculty in 1965, he served as instructor and assistant professor at The University of Rochester, 1959-1961, Antioch College, 1961-1963, and The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, 1963-1965. At The University of Manitoba, he and two students were the second group to observe bremsstrahlung production in proton-proton collisions. In 1993-94, he was Visiting Professor and Master Teacher at the University of Michigan. While at Oberlin College, Warner taught an array of classes, including a popular course in musical acoustics.
Warner was a visiting professor during sabbaticals at the Nuclear Physics Laboratory of Oxford University, England, 1971-1972, at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (Michigan State University) in 1980-1981 and 1995-96, and the Nuclear Structure Laboratory of Notre Dame University in 1987-1988. He was Visiting Scientist at the Kernfysisch Versneller Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands in the spring and summer of 1988 and at the University of Surrey, Guildford, England in the summer and fall, 2001.
Warner’s research at Oberlin was continuously supported by the National Science Foundation from 1965 through 1998. He involved his students, many of whom are co-authors of his papers, in the design and execution of experiments, the analysis of experimental data, and their interpretation through nuclear model calculations. In his early years he completed his studies of proton-proton bremsstrahlung and did many knockout measurements of the cluster structure of light nuclei. In the 1980s he shifted to measurements of total reaction cross sections of light nuclei, particularly of those with possible halo structure. In retirement, he is revisiting his reaction cross section data to extract single-nucleon removal cross sections. For their experiments, he and his students used accelerators at NASA-Lewis, Chalk River, Indiana University, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Osaka (Japan), and Uppsala (Sweden). He held a visiting fellowship from the Japan Society for Promotion of Science in Winter 1995.
On March 24, 1999, the American Physical Society recognized Warner's remarkable contribution to the professional development of undergraduate physics students by presenting him with the fourteenth annual "Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution".
Warner became the Donald R. Longman Professor of Natural Science in the fall of 1995 and held that professorship until his retirement on 30 June 2001. He sings bass in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and is active in the Cleveland Hiking Club.
Sources Consulted
"1999 Prize to a faculty member for research in an undergraduate institution" in 1999 Prizes & Awards. American Physical Society. 24.
Exner, Rich. 1999. "The Physics of Life: Oberlin College professor uses music, other methods to reveal the harmonies of science to his students." The Plain Dealer (March 24).
Forms of Material (links to similar genres) Administrative InformationThe papers of Emeritus Professor of Physics Robert E. Warner were received from Warner in two lots. Biographical materials and reprints of articles published through May 1, 1999 were received on May 21, 1999 [1999/052].
An addendum to Warner's publications list and reprints of articles written between 2000 and 2002 were received on December 18, 2002 [2002/147].
The collection consists of one folder containing materials related to the American Physical Society's "Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution", 1999; one folder containing a copy of Warner's curriculum vitae, 1999; a list of his publications, 1959-2002; and four folders containing reprints of articles authored or co-authored by Warner, 1959-2002.
The papers of Robert E. Warner are arranged in three series: I. Biographical, II. Writings, III. Photographs.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series I. Biographical Files, 1999-2002 (0.08 l.f.)
An entry for the American Physical Society "Prize to a faculty member for research in an undergraduate institution" contains a catalog of award recipients published by the American Physical Society titled 1999 Prizes & Awards, and a photocopy of Warner's award diploma and of the article "The Physics of Life", which appeared in The Plain Dealer of Wednesday March 24, 1999. Other biographical materials include Warner's curriculum vitae and a list of his publications through 2002. A memorandum from Professor of Physics Daniel F. Styer, 2001, announcing an upcoming dinner in celebration of Warner's career can be found in the folder labeled "Retirement".
Series II. Writings File, 1959-2002. (0.2 l.f.)
The writings series is comprised almost entirely of photocopies and reprints of articles by Robert E. Warner published in serials such as the American Journal of Physics, the Canadian Journal of Physics, Nuclear Physics, Physical Review, and Physics Letters. Also present is a copy of the bound volume "Angular Momentum Operators, Eigenfunctions and Eigenvalues in Quantum Mechanics: A Programmed Learning Unit" [Commission on College Physics: 1970], which Warner co-authored with Thomas B. Thomas.
Series III. Photographs, 1999. (0.02 l.f.)
The photographic series contains one image (4x6 color print) of Warner receiving the "Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution" from the president of the American Physical Society, Jerome Friedman, March 24, 1999.
INVENTORY
Series I. Biographical Files, 1999-2002
Box 1
The American Physical Society: “Prize to
a faculty member for research in
an undergraduate institution,”
24 March 1999
Curriculum Vitae; Publications list, 1999-2002
Retirement, 30 June 2001
Series II. Writings File, 1959-2002
Box 1 (cont.)
“Angular Momentum Operators, Eigenfunctions
and Eigenvalues in Quantum Mechanics:
A Programmed Learning Unit,” 1970
Writings, 1959-2002 (4f)
See publications list in case file.
Series III. Photographs, 1999
Box 1 (cont.)
Award Ceremony, 1999 (one 4x6 in. color print)