3605 Timberlake - Nielsen
submitted by Susan Key, October 2009
Dr. Alvin A. H. Nielsen and Jane Ann Nielsen
Biographies
ALVIN ANDREAS HERBORG NIELSEN
1910-1994
Alvin A. H. Nielsen, physicist in molecular spectroscopy, was born May 30, 1910, in Menominee, Michigan. Nielsen graduated from the local high school in 1927 and entered the University of Michigan, from which he earned his B.A. in 1931, M.A. in 1932, and Ph.D. in 1934.
Nielsen accepted a position as instructor in the department of physics at the University of Tennessee in 1935. He became a full professor in 1946 and succeeded Kenneth Hertel as department head in 1956. Nielsen achieved national and international recognition for his work in molecular spectroscopy and authored eighty-five publications. During World War II Nielsen joined a war research team at Ohio State University, where he worked on infrared detectors. When he returned to Knoxville after the war, Nielsen became one of the first consultants employed by the Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Oak Ridge, where he led a research team that specialized in studies of halogen-substituted formaldehydes, which have been found to be important in the pollution of the atmosphere. Nielsen's early work continues to provide information for current pollution studies.
In 1951 Nielsen became the University of Tennessee's first Fulbright Scholar and spent a year at the Institut d'Astrophysique de Cointe in Liege, Belgium. He proved adept at building national and international connections for UT. As department head (1956-69), he played a major role in developing the Oak Ridge connection that provided dual appointments for UT faculty and opened federal research facilities to university scientists. With Hilton Smith of the chemistry department, he acquired a ten-year faculty endowment grant from the Ford Foundation. In 1969 the National Science Foundation named the physics department a Center of Excellence and awarded it a $750,000 matching grant.
Nielsen was named dean of the College of Liberal Arts from 1963 to 1977. Nine new departments or programs were added, and six new buildings were constructed. In 1972-73 he served as chairman of the American Council of Academic Deans. When Nielsen retired as dean, Mayor of Knoxville Randy Tyree declared May 23-29, 1977, as "Alvin H. Nielsen Appreciation Week." In 1980 the UT physics building was named in his honor.
Nielsen was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the Optical Society of America. He married Jane Ann Evans of Columbus, Ohio, in 1942. They were the parents of one daughter, Margaret A. Nielsen Wayne. Alvin Nielsen died in Knoxville on November 3, 1994.
-- Connie L. Lester, Mississippi State University
JANE ANN EVANS NIELSEN
Source:
The Newsletter of the University of Tennessee
Department of Physics & Astronomy
Volume 7, Number 2
Fall/Winter 2003
Web: http://www.phys.utk.edu
Additional Nielsen Biographical Information
submitted by Dan Reiff, October 2009
Alvin H. Nielsen
Alvin Nielsen had become the third physics department head in 1956. Under his leadership, the faculty expanded, particularly in terms of researchers. He decided UT physics research should try to make use of the equipment available at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, hence a strong partnership began between ORNL and UT. Research collaborations led to the Ford Foundation Professors Program. The Ford Foundation agreed to fund joint appointments for professors (20 percent at UT, 80 percent at ORNL) for 10 years, with the idea that over that 10-year period they would phase out the funding and the University would assume the costs. This further expanded the faculty and enhanced teaching and research at UT. Nielsen's leadership brought other changes to the department as well. In 1963, physics finally got its own building, a $1,140,000 structure with six floors and 66,000 square feet. That was the same year Nielsen became Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He held both titles until 1969, when he gave up the headship of the physics department. He retired as Dean in 1977, after giving 42 years of service to the University of Tennessee. In 1980, the physics building was named the Alvin Nielsen Physics Building in his honor.
Jane Ann Evans Nielsen
Jane Ann Evans Nielsen, wife of UT Physics professor Dr. Alvin H. Nielsen, was in the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and state chairperson of the League of Women Voters committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting. From 1958 through the 1970s, Mrs. Nielsen collected and stored newspaper clippings, court rulings, articles, and League of Women Voters publications concerning Reapportionment and Redistricting, especially in Tennessee. Mrs. Nielsen was secretary for a citizens' committee pushing for constitutional reapportionment, which started in 1962.
submitted by Dan Reiff, October 2009
Alvin H. Nielsen
Alvin Nielsen had become the third physics department head in 1956. Under his leadership, the faculty expanded, particularly in terms of researchers. He decided UT physics research should try to make use of the equipment available at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, hence a strong partnership began between ORNL and UT. Research collaborations led to the Ford Foundation Professors Program. The Ford Foundation agreed to fund joint appointments for professors (20 percent at UT, 80 percent at ORNL) for 10 years, with the idea that over that 10-year period they would phase out the funding and the University would assume the costs. This further expanded the faculty and enhanced teaching and research at UT. Nielsen's leadership brought other changes to the department as well. In 1963, physics finally got its own building, a $1,140,000 structure with six floors and 66,000 square feet. That was the same year Nielsen became Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. He held both titles until 1969, when he gave up the headship of the physics department. He retired as Dean in 1977, after giving 42 years of service to the University of Tennessee. In 1980, the physics building was named the Alvin Nielsen Physics Building in his honor.
Jane Ann Evans Nielsen
Jane Ann Evans Nielsen, wife of UT Physics professor Dr. Alvin H. Nielsen, was in the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and state chairperson of the League of Women Voters committee on Reapportionment and Redistricting. From 1958 through the 1970s, Mrs. Nielsen collected and stored newspaper clippings, court rulings, articles, and League of Women Voters publications concerning Reapportionment and Redistricting, especially in Tennessee. Mrs. Nielsen was secretary for a citizens' committee pushing for constitutional reapportionment, which started in 1962.
