Hendrik de Waard

Professor Hendrik de Waard (April 20, 1922 - August 11, 2008) was born and raised in Groningen. He went to Gymnasium from 1934 to 1940. From 1940 he studied at the University of Groningen, during World War II, to receive his doctorate in Physics and Mathematics in 1949. His initial research, which he began in 1942, was on atomic physics.

In 1948 he switched to the nuclear spectroscopy, and he received his doctorate in 1954 with his thesis entitled "Scintillation coincidence studies of the decay of 181Hf and 1930s and the isomerism of odd proton nuclei". Through this research, Professor De Waard developed a method to measure brief nuclear lifetimes. During this time Professor De Waard also worked in Stockholm and Uppsala. In Uppsala Professor De Waard developed a method to stabilize scintillation spectrometers by using the feedback of the fluctuation output signal. In 1958 Professor Hendrik de Waard got a full-time job at the University of Groningen. His studies at the University of Groningen were measurements of the polarization of beta particles.

During his year as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois in 1962, he began to do research in the new field of Mössbauer spectroscopy. In 1965 he collaborated with Dr. S.A. Drentje in the research of resources made by ion implantation of radioactive isotopes and metals. This work proved very successful and is still ongoing. The ion implantation has been of great importance in semiconductors.

Professor Hendrik de Waard has received numerous recognitions, including the granting of membership in the Royal Academy of Science of the Netherlands, a scholarship to the American Physical Society and honorary membership of the European Physical Society. Professor De Waard became the first honorary member of the FMF in 1978. After his work at the University of Groningen the FMF established the Foundation Hendrik de Waard. Professor Hendrik de Waard deceased on August 11, 2008 at age 86.