Roy Jay Glauber is a Jewish American theoretical physicist and winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Glauber (born September 1, 1925) was born in New York City. A member of the 1941 graduating class of the Bronx High School of Science, Glauber went on to do his undergraduate work at Harvard University. After his sophomore year he was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, where (at the age of 18) he was one of the youngest scientists at Los Alamos.

His work involved calculating the critical mass for the atom bomb. After two years at Los Alamos, he returned to Harvard, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1946 and his Ph.D. in 1949.

Glauber has received many honors for his research, including the A. A. Michelson Medal from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia (1985), the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America (1985), the Dannie Heineman Prize from the American Physical Society (1996), and one half of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics “for his contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence,” with the other half shared by John L. Hall and Theodor W. Hänsch.

In his work, published in 1963, he created a model for photodetection and explained the fundamental characteristics of different types of light, such as laser light and light from light bulb. His theories are widely used in the field of quantum optics.

He is currently the Mallinkrodt Professor of Physics at Harvard University, where both past and present students enthusiastically praised his teaching to Harvard Crimson reporters, and Adjunct Professor of Optical Sciences at the University of Arizona.

Glauber has two children, a son and a daughter, and five grandchildren.

Sources: Wikipedia, Nobelprize.org

Roy J. Glauber