Harald Herborg Nielsen

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Harald Herborg Nielsen (1903 - January 8, 1973) was an American physicist.

He was born in Menominee, Michigan to immigrant parents who had moved to the United States from Denmark. His college education was attained at the University of Michigan, where he earned a Ph.D. He then spent a year at the Bohr's Institute in Copenhagen as a Scandinavian-American Fellow. In 1930 he joined the Ohio State University, where he would remain until his retirement.

Much of his work at OSU involved the infrared spectra of molecules; particularly with regard to their vibrational-rotational energies. He performed pioneering design work with high-resolution spectrographs, and made major theoretical contributions on molecular spectra.

From 1946 until 1967 he was chairman of the Physics Department. He held a Guggenheim Fellowship at Cambridge University, 1949–50; served as science attaché for the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, 1952–53, and was a Fulbright Lecturer, University of Paris, 1958–59. He also served as editor of the Journal of Molecular Spectroscopy.

[edit] Awards and honors

• Fellow of the American Physical Society.
• Elected to the Cosmos Club, 1954.
• Cross of the Order of Leopold, Belgium, 1953.
• Cross of the Order of Knights of Dannebrog, Denmark, 1957.
• University Medal, University of Liège.
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Dijon.
• Nielsen crater on the Moon is co-named for him and Axel Nielsen.

[edit] References

• Williams, Dudley (1973). "Harald Herborg Nielsen" (PDF). Journal of the Optical Society of America 63 (5): 638.