Gregory Hugh Wannier (1911 - 1983) was a Swiss physicist.
He attended Princeton as a graduate student and later taught at several American universities before a stint in industry.
He developed a complete set of orthogonal functions known as the Wannier functions which became tools of the trade for solid-state theorists. He also had made contributions to ferromagnetic theory via the Ising model.
He returned to academia in 1961 at the University of Oregon. He published a series of important papers on the properties of crystals, working with graduate students and visiting professors. Additionally he published widely read textbooks on solid-state theory and statistical mechanics.
He was regarded by many in the department as its most eminent member until his death on October 21, 1983.
Famous quotes containing the word gregory:
“Civil Rights: What black folks are given in the U.S. on the installment plan, as in civil-rights bills. Not to be confused with human rights, which are the dignity, stature, humanity, respect, and freedom belonging to all people by right of their birth.”
—Dick Gregory (b. 1932)