HR1247 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1247 LRB100 23940 ALS 43013 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Leon Max Lederman, who passed away on October 3, 2018; and

WHEREAS, Leon Lederman was born in New York City on July 15, 1922; his parents were Jewish immigrants from Russia, who ran a hand laundry business; he showed an interest in science at an early age and was inspired by an older brother who tinkered at home; he graduated from City College of New York in 1943, where he majored in chemistry; he then served as an officer in the United States Army for three years; he received his master's degree in physics from Columbia in 1951; and

WHEREAS, During graduate school, Leon Lederman joined the Columbia physics department in constructing a 385-MeV synchrotron at Nevis lab at Irvington-on-the Hudson, New York; he remained as part of that collaboration for 28 years and eventually served as director of Nevis Labs from 1961 until 1978; though his early award-winning work, he rose to prominence as a researcher and began to influence science policy; in the early 1960s, he proposed the idea for the National Accelerator Laboratory, which eventually became Fermilab; he served as director of Fermilab from 1978 until 1989; as the director, he established the ongoing Saturday Morning Physics program; and

WHEREAS, Leon Lederman promoted math and science education in many ways; in the early 1980s, he worked with members of the Illinois State Government to start the Illinois Math and Science Academy, which was founded in Aurora in 1985; he founded and was chairman of the Teachers Academy for Mathematics and Science and was active in the professional development of primary school teachers in Chicago; he also helped to found the nonprofit Fermilab Friends for Science Education; and

WHEREAS, During his career, Leon Lederman received some of the highest national and international awards and honors given to scientists; these include the 1965 National Medal of Science, the 1972 Elliot Creeson Medal from the Franklin Institute, the Wolf Prize in 1982, and the Nobel Prize in physics in 1988; he received the Enrico Fermi Award for his career contributions to science, technology, and medicine related to nuclear energy and the science and technology of energy in 1992 and was given the Vannevar Bush Award for exceptional lifelong leaders in science and technology in 2012; and

WHEREAS, Leon Lederman also served as the Pritzker professor of science at the Illinois Institute of Technology and as chairman of the State of Illinois Governor's Science Advisory Committee; he served on the board of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry and the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board; he will be remembered as someone who made the general public more aware of the importance of science; and

WHEREAS, Leon Lederman is survived by his wife of 37 years, Ellen; and his children, Rena, Jesse, and Rachel, with his first wife, Florence Gordon; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of Leon Max Lederman and extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Leon Lederman as an expression of our deepest sympathy.