Dr. Jon H. Shirley is a highly sought-after physicist, researcher, author and consultant who enjoyed a 55-year career prior to his retirement in 2018. With a specialization in atomic physics, he impressively worked on the United States’ atomic frequency standard. Before retiring, he thrived as a consultant for the National Institute of Standards and Technology beginning in 1983, having previously lent his expertise to the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics from 1978 to 1980 and a research associate at the University of Colorado and the University of Helsinki between 1974 and 1976. He commenced his career in 1963 after receiving his doctoral degree, serving with the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, until 1973.
In his formative years, Dr. Shirley excelled at mathematics and was especially influenced by the scientific-minded nature of his father, a professional forester. Attending Middlebury College in the 1950s, he first majored in mathematics until shifting his attention to physics, where he could apply his skills to find solutions to problems rather than work on theorems. Dr. Shirley subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts in 1957, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy from the California Institute of Technology in 1963.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Shirley has held a patent for modern transfer spectroscopy and contributed approximately 40 articles to professional journals. Serving as a primary author, alongside two other co-authors, of a paper illustrating primary frequencies standards, he also published his doctoral thesis in the Physical Review of the American Physical Society, which has since become heavily cited in other scholarly works. To date, it has more than 1,000 citations, which he considers to be a milestone of his career.
As a testament to his success, Dr. Shirley has received numerous accolades, including the I.I. Rabi Award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2002. He has also been recognized as a fellow of the American Physical Society and was selected for inclusion in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering. Looking toward the future, Dr. Shirley aims to continue enjoying his well-deserved retirement. Married to his wife, Lou Ann Wulf, since 1975, he is the devoted stepfather of three stepchildren. In his leisure time, he partakes in hiking and maintains an affiliation with the Colorado Mountain Club.
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