Earl Frederick Zwicker (1926 - 2022)
Education
- 1949
- B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison
- 1953
- M.S., Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
- 1959
- Ph.D., Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology -
The Nature of Sliding Friction and Wear in Lithium Fluoride
Positions
- 1959 - 1962
- Instructor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
- 1962 - 1966
- Assistant Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
- 1966 - 1982
- Associate Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
- 1982 - 1992
- Professor of Physics, Illinois Institute of Technology
Biography
Earl F. Zwicker was born on May 23, 1926 in Appleton, Wisconsin. He
attended Appleton High School and then earned a B.S. degree in Chemical
Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1949.
Zwicker came to IIT as a graduate student in the autumn of 1949 and earned
his M.S. (1953) and Ph.D. (1959) in physics. Immediately upon graduation
with his doctorate, Zwicker was joined the physics faculty where he served
for 33 years as Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and
Professor. He retired in 1992 as an Emeritus Professor and returned to
Appleton, Wisconsin where he died at the age of 95 on March 7, 2022.
While at Illinois Tech, Zwicker carried out research in the fields of
biological, chemical, and solid state physics. However, Zwicker's most
enduring contributions have been to changing the way the world thinks about
physics education. He did away with the old curriculum of books and
monotony and replaced it with what is now known as phenomenological physics,
allowing students to observe phenomena in the classroom rather than only
reading about them in their textbooks.
Zwicker was also instrumental in establishing the Illinois State Physics
Project which brought together high school and college physics teachers on a
monthly basis to share best practices in physics instruction.
Along with physics alumnus Roy Coleman, Zwicker started the Chicago Regional
Bridge Building Contest in 1975 and the International Bridge Building Contest
four years later. He continued to organize both contests until his
retirement in 1992.
For his outstanding advancements in the area of physics education, Zwicker
was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Medal in 1984 and elected Fellow of the
American Physical Society in 1991.
Notable Publications
-
"Transient measurements of photochemical processes in dyes. I. The
Photosensitized Oxidation of Phenol by Eosin and related dyes", L.I.
Grossweiner and E.F. Zwicker, J. Chem. Phys.
34, 1411-1417 (1961);
DOI {cited 91 times}
-
"Transient measurements of photochemical processes in dyes. II. The
mechanism of the photosensitized oxidation of aqueous phenol by eosin",
E.F. Zwicker and L.I. Grossweiner, J. Phys. Chem.
67, 549-555 (1963);
DOI {cited 166 times}
-
"Photochemical generation of the hydrated electron", G.W. Swenson, E.F.
Zwicker, and L.I. Grossweiner, Science 141, 805-806 (1963);
DOI
{cited 130 times}
-
"The role of n → π* triplet in the photochemical enolization of
o-benzylbenzophenone", E.F. Zwicker, L.I. Grossweiner, and N.C. Yang,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 85, 2671-2672 (1963);
DOI {cited 102 times}
-
"A chemical polishing technique for KCl", E.F. Zwicker and D. Chester,
J. Appl. Phys. 38, 1983-1984 (1967).
DOI