Milton A. Rothman

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Milton A. Rothman (1919, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – October 6, 2001, Wyncote, Pennsylvania) was a United States science fiction writer and fan, as well as a nuclear physicist. While he only published a few pieces of fiction (usually under the pseudonym "Lee Gregor"), he was very active in fandom, and was a co-founder of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society.

[edit] Early Career and Fandom

Dr. Rothman was born in Philadelphia, and attended Central High School. He was an active science fiction fan from an early age. Besides co-founding the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, Rothman also organized the very first Philcon in 1936, which has the honor of being the oldest of the annual science fiction conventions. The conference consisted of 12 people, including future science fiction author/editors Frederik Pohl and Donald A. Wollheim, and was held in Rothman's living room. The conference was to grow over time, becoming one of the largest Worldcons. Rothman later chaired the 1947 and 1953 Philcon committees. It was at the 1953 Philcon that the first Hugo award was presented.

In honor of Dr. Rothman's lifetime of work in science fiction fandom, he was voted into the First Fandom Hall of Fame in 1998.

[edit] Professional career

After graduating high school, Rothman attended Oregon State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in engineering. He attended graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving his doctorate in physics in 1952. After graduation, he spent the next seven years investigating nuclear-energy levels at the Bartol Research Foundation in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

From 1959 to 1969, he worked at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory on Project Matterhorn, which studied methods of heating ionized gas to very high temperatures. In 1969, Dr. Rothman joined the faculty at Trenton State College (now the College of New Jersey). He retired from teaching in 1979.

Dr. Rothman died in 2001 of a heart attack, from complications due to diabetes and Parkinson's disease. His complete science fiction stories were published posthumously in 2004 by Wildside Press under the title Heavy Planet and Other Science Fiction Stories edited by Darrell Schweitzer and Lee Weinstein. Milton Rothman's son is science fiction writer Tony Rothman.