About Professor Feynman

 

One of the most original minds of his or any generation, Richard Feynman blazed a trail across the landscape of quantum physics and the popular imagination.

Early in his career, he joined the Manhattan Project team that developed the atomic bomb. In 1965, with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, he won the Nobel Prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics. His pictorial representation of the mathematical expressions governing the behavior of subatomic particles became known as the Feynman diagrams. In addition to his work in theoretical physics, Feynman has been credited with pioneering the field of quantum computing and introducing the concept of nanotechnology.

While he was a professor at Caltech, his Feynman Lectures on Physics captured attention far beyond his classroom for their cogent explanations of complex concepts. Feynman received international acclaim for his role on the Rogers Commission in 1986. With television cameras rolling, Feynman demonstrated the fatal flaw of the O rings he believed caused the space shuttle Challenger to explode.

Feynman’s quicksilver intellect, visionary concepts, generous spirit and commitment to developing the next generation of learners make him an ideal eponym for gifted education.

“Our responsibility is to do what we can, learn what we can, improve the solutions, and pass them on.”

Richard Feynman