Lamb, Willis E., Jr.

Lamb, Willis E. (Eugene), Jr. (1913–  ) physicist; born in Los Angeles, Calif. He taught at Columbia University (1938–52), Stanford (1951–56), Oxford (1956–62), Yale (1962–74), and the University of Arizona (1974). He expanded English physicist Dirac's electron theory by demonstrating a change in hydrogen atom energy levels, now known as the Lamb shift (1947). When notified of winning the 1955 Nobel Prize in physics for his research into the hydrogen spectrum, he taught his scheduled class before publicizing his award. He continued to make advances in nuclear structure and laser theory.