Chu, Steven

Chu, Steven

(1948–  ) physicist; born in St. Louis, Mo. He was a member of the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories (1976–78) and head of the quantum electronics and research department of American Telephone and Telegraph Co. Bell Laboratories (1983–87) before becoming a physics professor at Stanford (1987). He made major contributions to laser spectroscopy, analysis of positronium atoms, and studies of gaseous sodium at temperatures approaching absolute zero.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.