Loyola University Physics Department Collection

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: Collection 38

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of correspondence between Father F.A. Benedetto, S.J. and the world-renowned physicist Dr. Victor Hess. Hess came to Loyola University in the spring of 1959 to be the guest speaker for and to be given an honorary membership in the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society. Additional paperwork in the collection includes biographical information on Dr. Hess as well as press releases related to Dr. Hess’s visit to the university. The collection also consists of several historical documents, pamphlets, and artifacts related to Loyola University’s Physics Department.

Dates

Created: 1800-1959
Other: Majority of material found in 1955-1959
Other: Date acquired: 11/12/2012

Creator

Loyola University (New Orleans, La.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the J. Edgar and Louis S. Monroe Library, Loyola University New Orleans. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright Laws.

Biographical or Historical Information

Dr. Victor Hess was an Austrian physicist who received the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of cosmic radiation. He taught at numerous prestigious universities, both in Austria and in the United States after he and his wife immigrated during WWII. Dr. Hess died in 1964. Father Frank A. Benedetto, S.J. came to Loyola in 1947 with a Ph.D. in Physics from Fordham where he had studied under Dr. Hess. He was chair of Loyola University’s Physics Department from 1954 through 1966. In 1966, Benedetto assumed the role of Vice President of Communications by being the faculty moderator of WWL. Loyola University has included physics in the curriculum since its inception. Originally the Department of Physics and Mathematics, the departments split in 1957. One major component of the Physics Department was Loyola’s seismograph station, which was built in 1910. It was under the direction of Father Benedetto that Dr. Hess was asked to speak at an event sponsored by Loyola’s Physics Department for the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society.

Note written by Rivet, Katherine Kuhl