Bruce Hadley Billings (July 6, 1915 – October 21, 1992[1]) was an American physicist. He was president of the Optical Society of America in 1971.[2] and the Polaroid Corporation's chief physicist between 1941 and 1947.[3]

Bruce H. Billings
BornJuly 6, 1915
DiedOctober 21, 1992 (1992-10-22) (aged 77)
Alma materHarvard University
Johns Hopkins University
AwardsAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences (1952)
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics

Billings was educated at Phillips Exeter Academy. He received his bachelor's degree in 1936 and his master's degree in 1937, both from Harvard University.[4] Billings obtained his Ph.D. in 1941 from Johns Hopkins University.[3] He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1952.[5]

In the 1950s and 1960s Billings was senior vice president for research at Baird-Atomic, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he contributed to the development of analytical instrumentation for emission spectroscopy, dual-beam, recording infra-red absorption spectrometry, flame photometry, and investigated the potential of circular dichroism as the basis for instrumentation, a technology that Baird-Atomic, Inc. never commercialized.

Billings died in Long Beach, California, aged 77 from pancreatic cancer.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Bruce H. Billings". Social Security Death Index. New England Historic Genealogical Society. Retrieved July 20, 2011.
  2. ^ "Past Presidents of the Optical Society of America". Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  3. ^ a b "Local Section News: Personalia: Dr. Bruce H. Billings" (PDF). Journal of the Optical Society of America. 46: 306. 1956. doi:10.1364/JOSA.46.000306.
  4. ^ a b "Bruce Billings, optics pioneer, Polaroid's chief physicist; at 77". The Boston Globe. 1992-10-31. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  5. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 20, 2011.

See also

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