Burton Richter

Burton Richter, the Paul Pigott Professor in the Physical Sciences at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; at Stanford 1956-present. Awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in physics with Samuel C. C. Ting "for their pioneering work in the discovery of a heavy elementary particle of a new kind."

Since receiving the prize, Richter has pursued research and administration. From 1976 to 1982, he continued his research at SLAC, but extension of the work required a major advance in high-energy accelerators. Richter went into administration, serving as director of SLAC from 1984 to 1999, to turn that vision into what is now a reality. He has since returned to physics research, focusing mainly on neutrino physics, and science policy. He is the current president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.