Werner P. Wolf

Raymond J. Wean Professor of Engineering and Applied Science

Werner P. Wolf, B.A., and D. Phil., Oxford, faculty member at Yale since 1963: You have represented the best of applied science at Yale in all of its aspects during your 39 years of service. Your contributions to the science of magnetism are world-renowned and have established you as a major figure in the development of the modern understanding of magnetic phenomena and phase transitions. You have over 130 different works cited in the scientific literature and several thousand citations to this work. Your 1962 paper on crystal field effects alone has over 1200 citations. Your work has contributed to the fundamentals of solid state physics through elucidation of the full complexity of magnetic phase diagrams of solids, and through application of solid state physics to real problems in thermometry and stealth technology.

Within the University you have been Chair of the Department of Engineering and Applied Science, Chair of the Council of Engineering, and most recently Chair of the newly formed department of Applied Physics. Your dedication to educating young scientists at both the undergraduate and graduate level has brought wonderful results: Your PhD students have become acknowledged leaders in the field of condensed matter Physics and recognized statesmen of science; their respect, affection and gratitude to you was evident by their return last weekend’s to the marvelous colloquium held in your honor. As a superb and visionary teacher of Yale undergraduates you have been honored with the Sheffield Distinguished Teaching Award. Your development of the innovative course “Perspectives on Technology,” including the many wonderful lecture demonstrations, has given a generation of Yale students a window into the world of modern engineering and science. Your commitment to all of Yale Science and Engineering has been deservedly recognized by the Meritorious Service award of the Yale Science and Engineering Association. As Dean Fleury has noted, “you have shown the humane face of science and engineering to all you have encountered.” At the occasion of your retirement, your colleagues in Engineering and throughout the University gratefully salute your scholarship, your passionate commitment to education, and all your many achievements.

Tribute Editor: Penelope Laurans