Caltech: Noel Corngold (1929-2022)

Press release from California Institute of Technology:

February 09, 2022

Noel Corngold, professor of applied physics, emeritus, passed away on January 24. He was 93 years old.

Corngold was born in New York City in 1929. He received his bachelor's degree from Columbia College in 1949; followed by his master's degree and doctorate from Harvard University in 1950 and 1954, respectively. He worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York for 12 years before joining Caltech's faculty in 1966. Corngold was a professor of applied science studying nuclear engineering until 1974, when he joined the newly created applied physics option. As a professor of applied physics, he extended his research to include radiation transport, plasma physics, and the statistical mechanics of fluids. He became an emeritus professor in 2002.

As a nuclear engineer, he conducted award-winning theoretical work on how neutrons behave in reactors. However, public favor for nuclear energy waned during the 1970s. As federal money to support nuclear energy research (such as reactor physics) dried up and academic institutions pivoted accordingly, Caltech phased out its own involvement with the field. At that time, Corngold transitioned his research to full-time teaching of applied physics, and dedicated himself to turning out physics students armed with a wide and deep knowledge of the field, helping to prepare them to advance the subject for their own generation. Along with his dedication to teaching, Corngold continued with research in new areas related to transport theory and in particular to photons and charged particles. He was also a continuing source of advice to many of his former colleagues.

Later, Corngold also explored the theoretical features of pure electron plasmas. He was elected to the American Nuclear Society (ANS) in 1966 and awarded a certificate of merit from the society's Reactor Physics Division for his "physical insight into neutronic problems." He received the society's Eugene P. Wigner Reactor Physics Award in 2002 and its Arthur Holly Compton Award in Education in 2006.

He acted as the unofficial administrative head of Caltech's applied physics option for 15 years and served several terms as a member of the Institute's Faculty Board, Steering Committee, and Nominating Committee. He also served on the Governing boards of the Athenaeum and the Baxter Art Gallery; and on the Admissions Committee.

A full memorial story will follow at a later date.

This press release was produced by California Institute of Technology. The views expressed here are the author’s own.