| Amos de-Shalit | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 29, 1926 Jerusalem, Mandate Palestine |
| Died | September 2, 1969 (aged 42) Israel |
| Nationality | Israeli |
| Fields | Nuclear Physics |
| Institutions | Weizmann Institute of Science |
| Alma mater | Hebrew University of Jerusalem ETH Zurich |
| Known for | Nuclear Shell Model |
Amos de-Shalit (Hebrew: עמוס דה-שליט; September 29, 1926 - September 2, 1969[1]) was a distinguished Israeli nuclear physicist.
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Amos de-Shalit was born in 1926 in Jerusalem in the then Palestine Mandate. He grew up in Tel Aviv and graduated from Gymnasia Balfour.
In 1949, de-Shalit earned his master's degree in physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, writing his M.Sc. thesis under the guidance of Giulio Racah. During the Israeli War of Independence, he served in the IDF Science Corps, together with other students of Professor Racah. Whilst the war was still in progress, de-Shalit, together with some other students, sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, stressing that the future of physics is nuclear physics and cosmic radiation. As a consequence, a number of students, including de-Shalit, were sent to the world's top nuclear institutions to gain the requisite knowledge. In 1951, he earned his doctorate at the ETH Zurich in Switzerland. From 1952 to 1954, he was a research fellow at Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent some time at the Saclay Atomic Research Institute in France.
In 1954, de-Shalit was asked to establish the Department of Nuclear Physics at the Weizmann Institute of Science, which he headed for ten years. While working at the Weizmann Institute, he also served as a consultant to the Israel Ministry of Defense. From 1961 to 1963, de-Shalit served as science director of the Weizmann Institute and from 1966 to 1969, he served as the Institutes's Chief Executive/General Manager.[2]
He died in 1969, not yet 43 years old, from acute pancreatitis.
Amos de-Shalit's sons, Ehud and Avner, are professors, for mathematics and political science, respectively, at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His sister, Tamar, was married to Arthur Goldreich.