Ralph Alpher, a distinguished research professor of physics and one of the pioneering architects of the Big Bang model for the origin of the universe, has been awarded the National Medal of Science.
Alpher is among eight people chosen for the honor, which was announced by President Bush last week.
The National Medal of Science honors individuals for pioneering scientific research in a range of fields, including physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral and engineering sciences. The National Science Foundation administers the award, the highest honor for science.
Alpher taught at Union from 1986 to 2004 and was administrator of the Dudley Observatory. He also spent more than 30 years at the General Electric Research and Development Center in Niskayuna.
In 1948, as a young doctoral student, he wrote the first mathematical model for the creation of the universe and predicted the discovery of cosmic background radiation that proves the Big Bang theory.
Hundreds of people showed up at George Washington University for his dissertation defense, but the work of Alpher and his colleagues went largely unrecognized. In 1965, two radio astronomers in New Jersey who were tuning their equipment stumbled on proof of Alpher’s background radiation and were awarded the Nobel Prize.
In 2004, when a student at Emory University doing research for Background, her one-act play about Alpher’s life, asked if he would have done anything differently, Alpher replied, “I would have worked harder to get the credit I deserved.”
Philip G. Kosky, a colleague of Alpher’s at both GE and Union, said he was thrilled his good friend was honored with the National Medal of Science.
“He has earned every bit of it,” said Kosky, the distinguished GE Research professor of mechanical engineering. “This is yet more recognition after the miscarriage of scientific justice. His work is the window on the cosmos and to not win the Nobel is truly one of the great black marks on the Nobel committee.”
Kosky used to speak weekly with the 86-year-old Alpher, who resides near his son in Austin, Texas. But Alpher's health has deteriorated in recent months, making it unlikely he will be able to attend a ceremony at the White House later this summer to receive his medal.
For more information about the National
Medal of Science, visit www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/nms/medal.htm.