Robert Joshua Rubin
Robert Joseph Rubin | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 17, 1926 New York, New York |
| Died | January 18, 2008 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Cornell University |
| Spouse | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mathematics |
| Institutions | Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Illinois, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Bureau of Standards, National Institutes of Health |
Robert Joshua Rubin (/ˈruːbɪn/; August 17, 1926 – January 18, 2008)[1] was an American mathematician whose work involved modelling complex physical systems. He is best known as the husband of astronomer Vera Rubin.[2]
Early life and education
Robert Joshua Rubin (b. 1926) was born in New York state to Benjamin Rubin, an artist, and his wife Bess,[3] a stenographer. While in elementary school, he became a serious tennis player, an activity in which he would remain active through his college years.[2]
Initially enrolled at Johns Hopkins University, his studies were interrupted by the advent of World War II. Rubin enlisted in the Navy. After the war ended, the Navy sent him to study chemical engineering at Cornell University on the V-12 program,[4] where he played on the tennis team[2] and completed his B.S. in 1947. He became engaged to Vera Florence Cooper in late fall of 1947 before returning to Cornell for graduate work in the spring of 1948.[5]
Robert and Vera were married in July 1948 following her graduation from Vassar College.[6]
He received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Cornell in 1951; his doctoral advisor was Peter Debye.[2]
Career
Following completion of his Ph.D., Rubin worked at the Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Laboratory in Washington until 1955, when he became a visiting assistant professor of physical chemistry at the University of Illinois.[2]
Returning to Washington in 1957, and he joined the National Bureau of Standards (later the National Institute of Standards and Technology) as a physicist. He also was on their tennis team.[2]
During the 1960s, his family spent summers in the West, where Rubin worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico and at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colo.[2]
Personal life
From 1948 until his death in 2008, he was married to Vera Rubin.
After many years in which Rubin's wife, astronomer Vera Rubin, arranged her education and employment to follow his schedule, Rubin eventually returned the favor, and "arranged his life so his wife, Vera C. Rubin, an astronomer who won the National Medal of Science in 1993, could travel for research and to use telescopes in the United States and Chile."[2]
Their four children include Judith Young (astronomer) and Karl Rubin (mathematician).[7]
Associations
Rubin was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and also a Fellow of the American Physical Society.[2]
References
- ^ "Robert Joshua Rubin (1926 - 2008) - Genealogy".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sullivan, Patricia (February 5, 2008). "Robert J. Rubin, 81; Scientist Whose Work Combined Disciplines". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
- ^ Yeager, Ashley Jean (August 15, 2023). Bright Galaxies, Dark Matter, and Beyond: The Life of Astronomer Vera Rubin. MIT Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-262-54723-9.
- ^ "Meet Vera Rubin". National Air and Space Museum. November 17, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
- ^ "Engagement Told". Washington Evening Star Newspaper Archives. November 30, 1947. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ "Miss Cooper Bride". Washington Dc Washington Evening Star Newspaper Archives Page 28. July 7, 1948. p. 28. Retrieved March 22, 2025.
- ^ Mitton, Jacqueline; Mitton, Simon (February 11, 2021). Vera Rubin: A Life. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-91919-8.