Arthur R. von Hippel (1898-2003)

MIT Institute Prof. Emeritus Arthur Robert von Hippel, who fled to the USA from Nazi Germany and went on to become a leader in materials research, died on December 31. He was 105 years old.

His name graces the highest international honor awarded in his field. The von Hippel Award of the Materials Research Society has been presented annually since 1976; von Hippel himself was the first recipient.

Although not a crystallographer himself, von Hippel inspired many crystallographers in the field of materials science, including four who came through his lab, subsequently becoming presidents of ACA: Rob Burbank, Howard Evans, Bob Newnham, and Sidney Abrahams.

His son, Eric von Hippel, said his father cross-country skied until he was 95 and continued to exercise by walking a mile a day even into his 100s.

From Obituary published by MIT
January 2004