Ben Roy Mottelson
Scientists

Ben Roy Mottelson Net Worth

Ben Roy Mottelson is an American-Danish nuclear physicist who was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1926. After graduating from Purdue University and earning his PhD from Harvard University, he traveled to Copenhagen and joined the Institute for Theoretical Physics. There, he collaborated with Aage Bohr and experimentally confirmed that movement of subatomic particles can alter the shape of the nucleus, which earned them the Nobel Prize in Physics two decades later. He then obtained employment at the Theoretical Study Group of European Organization for Nuclear Research and Nordisk Institut for Teoretisk Atomfysik, both in Copenhagen. He later became a naturalized citizen of Denmark and now lives in Copenhagen.
Ben Roy Mottelson is a member of Scientists

Age, Biography and Wiki

Who is it? Physicist
Birth Day July 09, 1926
Birth Place Chicago, Illinois, U.S., American
Age 96 YEARS OLD
Birth Sign Leo
Residence Copenhagen, Denmark
Citizenship Danish
Alma mater Purdue University, B.S. 1947 Harvard University, Ph.D. 1950
Known for Geometry of atomic nuclei
Spouse(s) Nancy Jane Reno (1948-1975; 3 children) Britta Marger Siegumfeldt (m. 1983)
Awards Atoms for Peace Award (1969) John Price Wetherill Medal (1974) Nobel Prize in Physics (1975)
Fields Nuclear physics
Institutions Nordita
Doctoral advisor Julian Schwinger

💰 Net worth

Ben Roy Mottelson, a renowned American physicist, is estimated to have a net worth ranging from $100K to $1M in 2024. Throughout his remarkable career, Mottelson has made significant contributions to the field of physics, particularly in nuclear structure. His groundbreaking work, which earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1975, has greatly impacted the understanding of atomic nuclei and their properties. Alongside his collaborator Aage Bohr, Mottelson developed the unified model for atomic nuclei, shedding light on their behaviors and dynamics. As an esteemed physicist, Mottelson's net worth reflects his extensive experience and achievements in the scientific community.

Biography/Timeline

1947

Mottelson was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Georgia (Blum) and Goodman Mottelson, an Engineer. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in LaGrange, Illinois. He received a Bachelor's degree from Purdue University in 1947, and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Harvard University in 1950.

1948

Mottelson has dual citizenship. He has both Danish and American citizenship. He lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mottelson was married to Nancy Jane Reno from 1948 until her death in 1975. They had two sons and one daughter. Mottelson then married Britta Marger Siegumfeldt in 1983.

1950

In 1950–51, James Rainwater and Aage Bohr had developed Models of the atomic nucleus which began to take into account the behaviour of the individual nucleons. These Models, which moved beyond the simpler liquid drop treatment of the nucleus as having effectively no internal structure, were the first Models which could explain a number of nuclear properties, including the non-spherical distribution of charge in certain nuclei. Mottelson worked with Aage Bohr to compare the theoretical Models with experimental data. In three papers which were published in 1952–53, Bohr and Mottelson demonstrated close agreement between theory and experiment, for Example showing that the Energy levels of certain nuclei could be described by a rotation spectrum. This work stimulated new theoretical and experimental studies.

1953

He moved to Institute for Theoretical Physics (later the Niels Bohr Institute) in Copenhagen on the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship from Harvard, and remained in Denmark. In 1953 he was appointed staff member in CERN's Theoretical Study Group, which was based in Copenhagen, a position he held until he became professor at the newly formed Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (Nordita) in 1957. He was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley in Spring 1959. In 1971 he became a naturalized Danish citizen.

1969

He is a foreign fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. In 1969, he received the Atoms for Peace Award. He acted as Director of ECT* (Trento, Italy) from 1993 to 1997.

1975

Rainwater, Bohr and Mottelson were jointly awarded the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection".

Some Ben Roy Mottelson images

About the author

Lisa Scholfield

As a Senior Writer at Famous Net Worth, I spearhead an exceptional team dedicated to uncovering and sharing the stories of pioneering individuals. My passion for unearthing untold narratives drives me to delve deep into the essence of each subject, bringing forth a unique blend of factual accuracy and narrative allure. In orchestrating the editorial workflow, I am deeply involved in every step—from initial research to the final touches of publishing, ensuring each biography not only informs but also engages and inspires our readership.