Hans Courant, 1924-2019

Professor Emeritus Hans Courant, the founder of the high energy physics group at the University of Minnesota, died in Minneapolis on August 21, 2019. He was 94 years old.

Hans was born in Gottingen, Germany, in 1924. He emigrated to the United States in 1934 and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. After military service in World War II, during which he witnessed the Trinity atomic bomb test, Hans received a PhD in Physics from MIT. After positions at Berkeley and Yale and a brief visit at CERN, Hans joined the University of Minnesota in 1963 and started a high energy physics group, which blossomed over the subsequent fifty years. Hans retired in 1997, but he remained active mentoring and teaching, and was a constant and ebullient presence in the School. Among other activities, Hans was well-known for his annual visits (disguised as Albert Einstein) to physics classes on Halloween. We extend our condolences to his family.

An obituary for Professor Courant can be found here.

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