Vladimir Veksler

Vladimir Iosifovich Veksler (Russian: Владимир Иосифович Векслер) (March 3, 1907, Zhitomir, Russian Empire (now Zhytomyr, Republic of Ukraine) — September 22, 1966, Moscow, USSR) was a prominent Soviet experimental physicist.

Veksler's family moved from Zhitomir to Moscow in 1915. In 1931 he graduated from the Moscow Power Engineering Institute. Since 1936 he worked in Lebedev Physical Institute, being involved in particle detector development and study of cosmic rays. He participated in a number of expeditions to Pamir Mountains and Elbrus devoted to study of cosmic ray composition. Since 1944 he worked in the field of particle acceleration technique; he became famous for formulation of the basic principles of modern particle accelerator design, that led to development of the synchrocyclotron. In 1956 he established and became the first director of the Laboratory of High Energy at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, where, along with Protvino, the largest circular proton accelerators in the world at their time, were constructed under his leadership.

He was a corresponding member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences since 1946 and a full member since 1958. Since 1963 he has the head of the Nuclear Physics Department of the Academy. Since 1965 he was the editor-in-chief of the journal "Nuclear Physics" (Yadernaya Fizika).

He received numerous honours, including Lenin Prize (1959), USSR State Prize (1963) and the American Atoms for Peace Award (1963).