Hamilton, Donald Ross, 1914-1972

Donald Ross Hamilton, a nuclear physicist, was a member of the Princeton faculty for twenty-five years. He graduated with highest honors in physics from Princeton in 1935 and earned his doctorate from Columbia University in 1939. From 1942 to 1946, he was associated with high-priority World War II research projects at M.I.T.'s Radiation Laboratory and with the Sperry Gyroscope Company. Joining Princeton in 1946 as an assitant professor, he advanced to an associate professorship in 1948 and to the rank of full professor in 1955. His research activities at Princeton in nuclear physics included the theory and observation of beta decay and of angular correlations of successive nuclear radiations. In later years, he was largely concerned with atomic-beam investigations of the spins and moments of radioactive nuclei. Dr. Hamilton headed the University's Graduate School from 1958 to 1965.