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Final
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J O H N K. H U L M
1923–2004
Elected in 1980
“For contributions to the theory and to the development of superconductors,
and leadership in their application.”
BY JOHN W. COLTMAN
J OHN KENNETH HULM, an internationally known scientist,
engineer, and activist in the field of superconductivity, had the
distinction of being elected to both the National Academy of
Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences for his many
contributions to the understanding of the fundamental
properties of materials at very low temperatures, the
development of practical superconducting materials, and their
application to high-field magnets. He died on January 16, 2004
at the age of 80.
John was born in the small town of Southport, England, on
July 4, 1923. His father, a modestly paid railway worker with
little education, was determined that his son would not lack for
one. John’s interest in science was stimulated by a remarkably
skillful educator, the headmaster of the local high school, and
after graduation he attended Cambridge University. He
completed his undergraduate work there in 1943 and then joined
the Royal Aircraft Establishment, where he worked on the
development of radar until the end of World War II.
After the war, he returned to Cambridge University as a
research fellow to pursue a graduate degree under David
Schoenberg, a pioneer and central figure in the field of low-
temperature physics. Toward the end of his graduate research
at the Cavendish Physics Laboratory, he met his wife-to-be,
Joan, whom he married in 1948. The results of his Ph.D. thesis
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102 MEMORIAL TRIBUTES
o n the thermal conductivity of superconductors and the
ferroelectric properties of barium titanate were published in
Nature, the first of some 100 publications during his lifetime.
In the fall of 1949, John travelled from England with his wife
and month-old baby to the University of Chicago, where he
had a postdoctoral position as a Union Carbide Research Fellow.
Two years later, he was appointed assistant professor of physics.
His highly productive research work there resulted in the
discovery, with George Hardy, of the A-15 superconducting
alloys, binary compounds of elements that exhibited
superconductivity at temperatures as high as 17 degrees Kelvin.
Together with B. T. Matthias, John published 14 technical papers
based on his work in Chicago.
In 1954, John accepted an offer from the Westinghouse
Electric Corporation research laboratory in Pittsburgh, where
he assembled a team of researchers on the physics of materials,
particularly superconductivity. In 1956, he was named manager
of the Solid State Physics Department. Four years later he
became associate director, Material Science, with several
departments under his direction. In spite of his administrative
duties, which were by no means negligible, he continued to
participate actively in the research and development of
superconductivity.
Superconductors ordinarily lose their zero resistance in the
presence of a small magnetic field, or when they carry any but
a small current. A major breakthrough occurred in 1961 with
the discovery that a niobium-tin alloy maintained its zero
resistance under magnetic fields as high as 10 Tesla, far above
the saturation point of iron. Alloys of this type, including
niobium-titanium, are called Type II superconductors. When
these alloys were properly fabricated into wire, they could
sustain currents on the order of 10,000 amperes, thus opening
the possibility of producing magnetic fields higher than any
achieved before. At this point, John Hulm became an engineer
as well as a scientist and administrator.
One of his first goals was to produce a high-field solenoid.
Using long lengths of wire fabricated from niobium-zirconium
and niobium-tin, the group under Hulm’s direction succeeded
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JOHN K. HULM
in fabricating magnets up to 10 Tesla. This compares with 2
Tesla, the best that could be done with an iron magnet. Today
magnets as high as 26 Tesla have been produced, and many
large superconducting magnets are crucial components of the
Large Hadron Collider, which was scheduled to become
operational in 2008.
When Westinghouse engineer John Mole returned to
Westinghouse from a stay at Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, he reported on work being done there on
superconducting rotating generators. Together, he and John
then initiated a program at Westinghouse to apply
superconductivity to power generators. The problems of cooling
rotating parts with liquid helium were substantial, but by 1972
a group under Mole and James Parker had successfully
demonstrated a 2-pole, 5-megawatt superconducting generator.
Westinghouse obtained a contract from the Air Force to design
and develop a superconducting generator for aircraft, and with
the participation of engineers from operating divisions and the
leadership of Richard Blaugher, a 14,000 rpm rotor was
successfully tested. Westinghouse also entered into a jointly
funded program with the Electric Power Research Institute
directed toward the eventual construction and testing of a
prototype 300-megawatt generator. However, because of the
poor business climate for power equipment at the time, the
program was terminated by mutual agreement. Although John’s
support and interaction with these outside agencies was
important, he took no direct part in the engineering itself.
In 1974, John took a two-year leave of absence from
Westinghouse to become the science attaché to the U.S. Embassy
in London, England. This change of scene gave him an
opportunity to renew his many acquaintances and connections
there. He returned to Westinghouse as manager of the Chemical
Sciences Department, and in 1980, he was named director of
corporate research and R&D planning. He retired in 1988 as
Chief Scientist.
Because of John’s prominence in his field, his communication
skills, and his organizational abilities, he was often called upon
as an investigator, advisor, and organizer. Among his activities
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were membership on several committees of the National Science
Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences, program
chairman of two Applied Superconductivity Conferences, of
which he was a founding member, participation in a number
of advisory and visiting committees for government and
university organizations, and member of the boards of physics
societies and journals. In 1989, he accompanied Mildred
Dresselhaus, chair of the Japanese Technology Evaluation
Center (JTEC) Superconductivity Panel, to Japan to evaluate
their superconductivity research. Upon his return, he briefed
the President’s Science Advisory Council on the results of the
JTEC study and their implications for the U.S. superconductivity
research program. The President subsequently announced a
renewed U.S. initiative in high-temperature superconductivity
research and applications.
John received many honors for his contributions: the John
Price Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute; the American
Physical Society’s International Prize for New Materials; the
Westinghouse Order of Merit; and election to the National
Academy of Sciences and NAE. Perhaps he appreciated as much
or more the informal celebrations in his honor given by his co-
workers, associates, and well-wishers.
John was both sociable and witty, and those who accompanied
him on his many excursions always welcomed the opportunity
to be with him. Family life was important to him, and after
retirement he was able to spend more time with his wife Joan
and their son and four daughters. He doted on his children and
helped them to obtain the best education possible. He and Joan
also enjoyed travelling, especially to England to visit relatives
and former colleagues. Having come from a railroad family,
John always loved trains, so wherever they traveled they
explored local train history and often traveled by train. He
especially liked to learn about old railroads, steam engines, and
rolling stock.
In January 1991, John suffered a severe stroke that
significantly limited his activities. He fought his way back,
however, and kept up with advances in science and engineering
for another six years, during which he met often with former
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colleagues and kept in touch with his eminent scientific friends
with whom he continued to make scientific contributions. He
also continued to attend scientific conferences, and traveled to
England, where he attended a reception at his former alma
mater at Cambridge University for the opening of the new
library.
John K. Hulm played a prominent role in advancing the
progress of superconductivity from a little-understood
phenomenon in pure science to advanced technology and
important applications. His activism, his inspiring leadership,
and his technical contributions will be long remembered.
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