Jon Shirley, PhD Honored for Contributions to Physics

    BOULDER, CO, January 17, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Dr. Jon Shirley has been included in Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.

A renowned physicist, researcher, author, and consultant in the scientific field, Dr. Jon Shirley built an accomplished career that spanned 55 years and included work on the nation's atomic frequency standard before his retirement in 2018.

While growing up in Minnesota, Dr. Shirley proved himself to be a gifted student, namely in mathematics—which he especially enjoyed. Additionally, his father, a professional forester, was scientifically-minded. Motivated by his passion for the subject, he majored in mathematics at Middlebury College; however it was there that he discovered mathematics was more about proving theorems than utilizing them. He decided he was more interested in applying his skills in order to find solutions to actual problems as opposed to merely working on theorems. This inspired him to shift his focus to physics. He later noted that if computer science had existed while he was in school, he would have majored in it. Dr. Shirley obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College in 1957 and then a Doctor of Philosophy from the California Institute of Technology in 1963.

With a particular expertise in atomic physics, Dr. Shirley first found success working at the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado from 1963 to 1973. In that time, he was also able to publish his PhD thesis in the Physical Review, a journal released by the American Physical Society. For a while after he graduated from Caltech, there wasn't much interest in his findings but as physics developed, more and more people were conducting special research that hadn't started when he was a student—work that was somewhat based on his thesis work. In fact, the original publication of his thesis ended up being heavily cited in other people's written works; at this point, it has more than 1,000 citations—which he considers to be the highlight of his career. Dr. Shirley went on to serve as a research associate at the University of Colorado and University of Helsinki between 1974 and 1976 before becoming a consultant at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics from 1978 to 1980.

Between 1983 and his retirement, Dr. Shirley excelled in the capacity of a consultant for the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Over the course of his career, he has been a patentee of modern transfer spectroscopy, contributed approximately 40 articles to professional journals, and served as the primary author of a paper illustrating primary frequencies standards, which was co-written by two others. As a testament to his lengthy and prolific life in the field of physics, he was recognized with the I.I. Rabi Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, also known as IEEE.

A fellow of the American Physical Society, Dr. Shirley has also been a longtime member of the Colorado Mountain Club and enjoys hiking in his spare time. Married to his wife, Lou Ann Wulf, since 1975, he is a stepfather to three and has two siblings, Frank Shirley and Emily Castner.

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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America®, Marquis Who's Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis® now publishes many Who's Who titles, including Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in American Law®, Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare®, Who's Who in Science and Engineering®, and Who's Who in Asia®. Marquis® publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who® website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.

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