HR1247LRB100 23940 ALS 43013 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Leon Max
4Lederman, who passed away on October 3, 2018; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Leon Lederman was born in New York City on July
615, 1922; his parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, who
7ran a hand laundry business; he showed an interest in science
8at an early age and was inspired by an older brother who
9tinkered at home; he graduated from City College of New York in
101943, where he majored in chemistry; he then served as an
11officer in the United States Army for three years; he received
12his master's degree in physics from Columbia in 1951; and
 
13    WHEREAS, During graduate school, Leon Lederman joined the
14Columbia physics department in constructing a 385-MeV
15synchrotron at Nevis lab at Irvington-on-the Hudson, New York;
16he remained as part of that collaboration for 28 years and
17eventually served as director of Nevis Labs from 1961 until
181978; though his early award-winning work, he rose to
19prominence as a researcher and began to influence science
20policy; in the early 1960s, he proposed the idea for the
21National Accelerator Laboratory, which eventually became
22Fermilab; he served as director of Fermilab from 1978 until
231989; as the director, he established the ongoing Saturday

 

 

HR1247- 2 -LRB100 23940 ALS 43013 r

1Morning Physics program; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Leon Lederman promoted math and science education
3in many ways; in the early 1980s, he worked with members of the
4Illinois State Government to start the Illinois Math and
5Science Academy, which was founded in Aurora in 1985; he
6founded and was chairman of the Teachers Academy for
7Mathematics and Science and was active in the professional
8development of primary school teachers in Chicago; he also
9helped to found the nonprofit Fermilab Friends for Science
10Education; and
 
11    WHEREAS, During his career, Leon Lederman received some of
12the highest national and international awards and honors given
13to scientists; these include the 1965 National Medal of
14Science, the 1972 Elliot Creeson Medal from the Franklin
15Institute, the Wolf Prize in 1982, and the Nobel Prize in
16physics in 1988; he received the Enrico Fermi Award for his
17career contributions to science, technology, and medicine
18related to nuclear energy and the science and technology of
19energy in 1992 and was given the Vannevar Bush Award for
20exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology in 2012;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, Leon Lederman also served as the Pritzker
23professor of science at the Illinois Institute of Technology

 

 

HR1247- 3 -LRB100 23940 ALS 43013 r

1and as chairman of the State of Illinois Governor's Science
2Advisory Committee; he served on the board of the Chicago
3Museum of Science and Industry and the Secretary of Energy
4Advisory Board; he will be remembered as someone who made the
5general public more aware of the importance of science; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Leon Lederman is survived by his wife of 37 years,
7Ellen; and his children, Rena, Jesse, and Rachel, with his
8first wife, Florence Gordon; therefore, be it
 
9    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
10HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11mourn the passing of Leon Max Lederman and extend our sincere
12condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
13him; and be it further
 
14    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
15presented to the family of Leon Lederman as an expression of
16our deepest sympathy.