David M. Lee Recognized for Excellence in the Field of Physics

An accomplished scientist, Dr. Lee was a co-recipient of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of superfluidity in helium-3

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Marquis Who's Who

Jun 25, 2019, 13:27 ET

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, June 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- David M. Lee is a distinguished biographee of Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are chosen from among a pool of the most prominent professionals and are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

With a career spanning over half a century, Dr. Lee currently serves as a professor of physics at Texas A&M University in College Station. Holding this role since 2009, he spent the first five decades of his career at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Joining the university as an instructor of physics in 1959, he rose to assistant professor in 1960, associate professor in 1963 and full professor in 1969. He ended his tenure at Cornell as a James Gilbert White distinguished professor of physical sciences from 1999 to 2009. Prior to embarking on his career, Dr. Lee served with the United States Army from 1952 to 1954.

Alongside his primary responsibilities, Dr. Lee has donated his expertise through roles with the Joseph Fourier University in France, the University of Florida, the University of California San Diego, Peking University in China and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, among others institutions and organizations. A regular contributor of articles to professional journals, he has authored papers for Physical Review Letters, Physical Review, Physica and Nature. Accomplishing much over the course of his career, he is particularly proud of co-discovering superfluid helium-3, which awarded him a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 with Robert Richardson and Douglas Osheroff. Dr. Lee is also notable for co-observing spin waves in spin polarized hydrogen gas and co-discovering collective sound modes in superfluid helium-3B.

Pursuing an education at the prestigious Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1952, Dr. Lee went on to earn a Master of Science from the University of Connecticut in 1955 and a Doctor of Philosophy from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1959. Furthermore, he has been awarded honorary degrees from a number of universities, including the University of Connecticut, Joseph Fourier University, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Florida. To remain abreast of developments in his field, he maintains professional affiliation with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Institute of Physics, the American Physical Society and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Lee is also a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Lee has been the recipient of a number of honors and accolades over the years. He was first recognized for the discovery of superfluid helium-3 with the Sir Francis Simon Memorial Prize by the British Institute of Physics in 1976 and the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize by the American Physical Society in 1981 along with Drs. Osheroff and Richardson. He was later presented with the Wilbur Cross Medal by Yale University in 1998. In light of his accomplishments, Dr. Lee has previously been featured in Who's Who in 20th Century America, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in the East, Who's Who in the South and Southwest, and Who's Who in the World.

With no current plans to retire, Dr. Lee fully intends to be active and contribute to his field in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, he feels incredibly grateful to all of his coworkers and the 33 doctoral students that he has mentored for their essential contributions to the research programs. He truly hopes that he will be remembered by his peers as a great teacher, researcher and family man. Spending many happy years married to his late wife, Dana Thoranfkul, Dr. Lee is the proud father of two children, Eric Bertel and James Marvin, and grandfather of four wonderful grandchildren.

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