Person

Bell, Robert Edward, 1918-1992

1918-1992

Robert Edward Bell, internationally famous nuclear physicist, was born in England of Canadian parents in 1918 and grew up in Ladner, B.C. He graduated from University of British Columbia with an Honours B.A. in Mathematics and Physics in 1939. In 1941 he acquired an M.A. in Physics from the same university. During the Second World War, Bell worked in the National Research Council Laboratories in Ottawa pursuing research on the development of VHF, UHF radar and microwave antennas for military purposes. From 1946 to 1952 he worked at Chalk River Nuclear Energy Laboratory in Ontario in nuclear physics research. This work formed the major part of Bell's thesis for his Ph.D. degree in Physics, which was granted to him by McGill University in 1948. In 1952 he worked at McGill University as a Research Associate utilizing the cyclotron as part of his Chalk River research. In 1954 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and one year later Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Between 1956 and 1960 he was an associate professor at McGill University. From 1958 to 1959 he worked in Copenhagen, Denmark at the Institute of Neils Bohr. In 1960 Robert Bell became director of the Foster Radiation Laboratory at McGill University and held this function until 1969. In the same year he was named Rutherford Professor of Physics at McGill. Between 1964 and 1967 he was Vice-Dean for Physical Sciences. In 1965 Robert Bell was named a Fellow of the Royal Society, London for his work in nuclear physics, and he was also a member of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. In 1969 Robert Bell became Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and one year later he was appointed Principal and Vice-Chancellor. In 1979 he returned to the Physics Department. In 1983 he was offered a post at the Arts, Science and Technology Centre in Vancouver and left McGill. He was the director for two formative years of the Centre before his retirement. Dr. Bell lectured in Canada and in Europe and published more than 40 scientific articles. In 1971 Robert Bell was appointed Companion of the Order of Canada. Between 1978 and 1981 he was a president of the Royal Society of Canada. Also, from 1981 to 1990 he was Canadian delegate to the Science Council of NATO. His most significant contribution to scientific research was the discovery of a new form of radioactivity - delayed proton, and its development into a powerful spectroscopic tool.