Enrico Fermi (1901-1954)

Awarded the Prize “for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons.”

American physicist. Fermi was born in Rome on September 29, 1901. He completed his education at the University of Pisa where he gained his Ph.D. in 1922. From 1924 to 1926 he was Lecturer at the University of Florence. In 1927, he was elected Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Rome. He moved to America in 1938 accepted an appointment as Professor of Physics at Columbia University the University of Chicago. In 1944 Fermi became American citizen accepted a professorship at the Institute for Nuclear Studies of the University of Chicago. Fermi died in Chicago on November 28, 1954.