CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory co-founder and physicist Dr. Edwin Goldwasser has died. He was 97.
The physics department at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign campus said Goldwasser died Wednesday.
Goldwasser was one of the nation’s leading physicists whose research helped explain nuclear force.
After he joined the university’s faculty in 1951, Goldwasser took a leave in 1967 to serve as deputy director for what became the Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, which does research on particle physics.
The (Champaign) News-Gazette (http://bit.ly/2gMDpmM ) reports that he not only helped convince President Lyndon Johnson that such a facility should be built in the Midwest but that it should be built in Illinois.
He held various positions at the university, including dean of the Graduate College, vice chancellor for research and vice chancellor for academic affairs. He retired in 1986.