Friedel Sellschop

Infobox_Scientist
name = Friedel Sellschop

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image_width = 130px
caption =
birth_date = June 8, 1930
birth_place = Luderitz, Namibia
residence = South Africa
nationality = South African
death_date = August 4, 2002
death_place =
field = Physics
work_institution = University of the Witwatersrand
alma_mater = University of Cambridge
doctoral_advisor =
doctoral_students =
known_for = Nuclear physics
Particle physics
Diamond physics
prizes = Max Planck medal
religion =
footnotes =

Friedel Sellschop was a South African scientist and pioneer in the field of nuclear applied physics.

Early life and education

Sellschop was born in Luderitz, Namibia on June 8, 1930.cite news |last=Barron |first=Chris |url=http://www.src.wits.ac.za/groups/jpfs/jpfs-mem.html |title=Obituary - Jacques Pierre Friederich (Friedel) Sellschop 1930 - 2002 |publisher=Sunday Times |date=2002-11-08 |accessdate=2007-04-08] He was educated at Pretoria University and Stellenbosch University, and earned a University of Cambridge PhD in Nuclear Physics. On completing his education in England, he returned to South Africa on the advice of Basil Schonland, his mentor. cite news |last= |first= |url=http://web.uct.ac.za/org/rssa/newslets/02-aug.htm |title=TRIBUTE TO FRIEDEL SELLSCHOP FRSSAf |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=August 2002 |accessdate=2007-04-08]

Contributions to neutrino research

In February 1965, Sellschop was part of a group which identified the first neutrino found in nature, in one of South Africa's gold mines.cite news |last= |first= |url=http://sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmediaculture/pages/national-orders/2002-awards.htm#friedel |title=National Awards and Honors |publisher=SAHistory |date= |accessdate=2007-04-08] . The experiment was performed in a specially prepared chamber at a depth of 3km in the ERPM mine near Boksburg. A plaque in the main building commemorates the discovery. The experiments also implemented a primitive neutrino astronomy and looked at issues of neutrino physics and weak interactions.cite journal |last= R Tegen |title=A review of the SA Neutrino experiment |publisher=The South African Journal of Science (more details to follow)" |date=2001 ]

Contributions in diamond physics

Sellschop was an expert in the physics of the diamond. His research here was very broad. As a member of the CERN NA43 and NA59 collaborationscite web |last= |first= |url=http://greybook.cern.ch/ |title=CERN Greybook |publisher=CERN |date=April 2007 |accessdate=2007-04-09] , he contributed to experiments that used the perfect and very rigid diamond lattice to produce and study the highest energy near monochromatic photons ever produced in a laboratory. He was an important contributor to the field of nuclear geochemistry in diamond, evidencing the trace-element composition of natural diamond and linking this to mantle geochemistry cite journal |last= DM Bibby, HW Fesq & JPF Sellschop |title=Trace elements in diamonds of different types |publisher=Nature 276, (1978) 379-381; doi=10.1038/276379a0 |date=1978 ] . Diamonds are seen as "messengers from the deep", assumed to bring included mantle material to the surface well preserved in a chemical and physical prison. He also studied ion-implantation of diamond and was a pioneer of diamond as an ideal material for electricalcite journal |last= Sellschop JPF |title=Nuclear probes in the study of diamond |publisher=The properties of natural and synthetic diamond" Ed. Field JE. Academic Press, 1992 ISBN 012-255352-7 |date=1992 ] and optical applications.cite journal |last= Sellschop JPF, Freund A, Hoszowska J, SH Connell, M Rebak and RC Burns |title=The quest for diamond crystal perfection to meet the needs of physics: Unrealistic dream or attainable target? |publisher=Phys Status Solidi A 193(3) (2002) 415-422 |date=2002 ]

He received the Max Planck medal for his work in both neutrino and diamond physics.cite news |last=Barron |first=Chris |url=http://www.src.wits.ac.za/groups/jpfs/jpfs-mem.html |title=Obituary - Jacques Pierre Friederich (Friedel) Sellschop 1930 - 2002 |publisher=Sunday Times |date=2002-11-08 |accessdate=2007-04-08]

Contributions to the scientific community

Friedel Sellschop is remembered as an innovative and visionary scientific leader. He contributed both to his University and country. From 1959 to 1988, Sellschop served as the University of Witwatersrand's chair of Nuclear Physics, the first person to hold such a chair in all of South Africa.cite news |last= |first= |url=http://web.uct.ac.za/org/rssa/newslets/02-aug.htm |title=TRIBUTE TO FRIEDEL SELLSCHOP FRSSAf |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=August 2002 |accessdate=2007-04-08] In this capacity, as a young man, he began from nothing and developed a significant nuclear physics laboratory and research department.cite news |last=Barron |first=Chris |url=http://www.src.wits.ac.za/groups/jpfs/jpfs-mem.html |title=Obituary - Jacques Pierre Friederich (Friedel) Sellschop 1930 - 2002 |publisher=Sunday Times |date=2002-11-08 |accessdate=2007-04-08] . He was therefore the founding Director of the Nuclear Physics Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand in 1956. This laboratory was later renamed the Schonland Centre for Nuclear Sciences. In 2005, the Schonland Centre was donated to the state to be run as a National Facility by iThemba LABS.

Sellschop was Dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1979 to 1983. He subsequently became Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) from 1984 to 1996. In this position, from which he retired, Sellschop assisted in creating funding policies and procedures that would ensure transparency in awarding research money.cite news |last=Barron |first=Chris |url=http://www.src.wits.ac.za/groups/jpfs/jpfs-mem.html |title=Obituary - Jacques Pierre Friederich (Friedel) Sellschop 1930 - 2002 |publisher=Sunday Times |date=2002-11-08 |accessdate=2007-04-08]

A list of some of his positions in service to the community followSellschop, Friedel. Curriculum Vitae, 2002: Lodged with the Official Archives - University of the Witwatersrand]
* Special Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology 1994-1998
* South African Association for the Advancement of Science, Member of Council 1958-2002, Executive President 1970-1972
* Joint Council of Scientific Societies of South Africa, President 1971-1972 Vice-President 1991-1993 President 1993-1995, Past-President (on the Council) 1995-2002
* South African Institute of Physics, President 1995–1997, Honorary membership 1998 on.
* Associated Scientific & Technical Societies of South Africa, Controlling Executive 1958-2002, Senior Vice-President 1996, President 1997/8
* The Royal Society of South Africa, Member of the Council 1994-2002, Vice-President, 1994,1995,1996, 1997, 1998, President (Transvaal Branch) 1994, President 1999–2002
* National Advisory Council on Innovation, Appointed by the Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology,1998-2002.

ignificant publications

Friedel Sellschop authored over 300 publications in international peer reviewed journals. A selection of these follow.Sellschop, Friedel. Curriculum Vitae, 2002: Lodged with the Official Archives - University of the Witwatersrand]
* Sellschop JPF, Part I.3, pp. 81-179 Nuclear probes in the study of diamond in "The properties of natural and synthetic diamond" Ed. Field JE. Academic Press, 1992 ISBN 012-255352-7
* F. Reines, M. F. Crouch, T. L. Jenkins, W. R. Kropp, H. S. Gurr, and G. R. Smith, J. P. F. Sellschop and B. Meyer, Evidence for High-Energy Cosmic-Ray Neutrino Interactions, Phys. Rev. Lett. 15, (1965) 429 - 433. Times Cited: 35
* Holzschuh E, Kundig W, Meier PF, Patterson BD, Sellschop JPF, Stemmet MC, Appel H, Muonium in Diamond, Physical Review A 25 (3): 1272-1286 1982, Times Cited: 110
* Sellschop JPF, Madiba CCP, Annegarn HJ, Light Volatiles in Diamond - Physical Interpretation and Genetic Significance, Nuclear Instruments & Methods 168 (1-3): 529-534 1980, Times Cited: 60
* Prins JF, Derry TE, Sellschop JPF, Volume Expansion of Diamond During Ion-Implantation, Physical Review B 34 (12): 8870-8874 Dec 15 1986, Times Cited: 56
* Freudenberger J, Gavrikov VB, Galemann M, Genz H, Groening L, Morokhovskii Vl, Morokhovskii VV, Nething U, Richter A, Sellschop JPF, Shulga NF, Parametric X-Ray-Radiation Observed in Diamond at Low Electron Energies, Physical Review Letters 74 (13): 2487-2490 Mar 27 1995, Times Cited: 37
* Derry TE, Madiba CCP, Sellschop JPF, Oxygen and Hydrogen on the Surface of Diamond, Nuclear Instruments & Methods In Physics Research 218 (1-3): 559-562 1983, Times Cited: 37
*Andersen JU, Datz S, Laegsgaard E, Sellschop JPF, Sorensen AH, Radiation from two-Dimensional Molecular Bound-States of Electrons Channeled in Diamond, Physical Review Letters 49 (3): 215-218 1982,Times Cited: 35
* Tredoux M, DeWit MJ, Hart RJ, Armstrong RA, Lindsay NM, Sellschop JPF, Platinum Group Elements in A 3.5 Ga Nickel-Iron Occurrence - Possible Evidence of a Deep Mantle Origin, Journal Of Geophysical Research-Solid Earth And Planets 94 (B1): 795-813 Jan 10 1989, Times Cited: 34
* Schneider JW, Kiefl RF, Chow KH, Johnston S, Sonier J, Estle TL, Hitti B, Lichti RL, Connell SH, Sellschop JPF, Smallman CG, Anthony TR, Banholzer WF, Bond-Centered Muonium in Diamond - Resolved Nuclear Hyperfine-Structure, Physical Review Letters 71 (4): 557-560 Jul 26 1993, Times Cited: 33
* Delcampo JG, Shapira D, Biggerstaff JA, Moak CD, Miller PD, Neskovic N, Fearick RW, Sellschop JPF, Measurements of Nuclear Deexcitation Times Down to 10-19 Sec Using Crystal Blocking Of O-16 on Diamond, Physical Review Letters 51 (6): 451-454 1983, Times Cited: 25
* Annegarn HJ, Jodaikin A, Cleatonjones PE, Sellschop JPF, Madiba CCP, Bibby D, Pixe Analysis of Caries Related Trace-Elements in Tooth Enamel, Nuclear Instruments & Methods 181 (1-3): 323-326 1981, Times Cited: 22
* Connell SH, Fearick RW, Hoernle RFA, Sideras-Haddad E, Sellschop JPF, Search for Low-Energy Resonances in the Electron-Positron Annihilation-in-Flight Photon Spectrum, Physical Review Letters 60 (22): 2242-2245 May 30 1988, Times Cited: 19
* Medenwaldt R, Moller SP, Jensen BN, Strakhovenko VM, Uggerhoj E, Worm T, Elsener K, Sona P, Connell SH, Sellschop JPF, Avakian RO, Avetisian AE, Taroian SP, Experimental Investigations of Hard Photon-Emission from Strong Crystalline Fields, Physics Letters B 281 (1-2): 153-158 May 7 1992, Times Cited: 18

Awards and honors

Friedel Sellschop held five honorary doctorates.Sellschop, Friedel. Curriculum Vitae, 2002: Lodged with the Official Archives - University of the Witwatersrand]
* Dr rer nat h.c., Johan Wolfgang von Goethe University of Frankfurt / Main, 1989
* DSc honoris causa University of Cape Town, 1995
* DSc honoris causa University of Pretoria, 1996
* DSc honoris causa University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1997
* DSc honoris causa University of Stellenbosch, 1998 cite news |last= |first= |url=http://www.rssa.uct.ac.za/newslets/98-april.htm |title=NEWSLETTER APRIL 1998 |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=April 1999 |accessdate=2007-04-09]

A selection of his Honours and awards reads as follows.Sellschop, Friedel. Curriculum Vitae, 2002: Lodged with the Official Archives - University of the Witwatersrand]
* Four Outstanding Young Men of the Year award of the SA Junior Chamber of Commerce (1968)
* South Africa Medal (gold) of the SA Association for the Advancement of Science (1984)
* Percy Fox Foundation Award (1986)
* John F W Herschel Medal (gold) of the Royal Society of South Africa (1987)
* Ingham Award of the SA Institute of Mechanical Engineering (1988)
* SA Mine Ventilation Society Award (1989)
* de Beers Gold Medal of the South African Institute of Physics (1990)
* Issue of the Zeitschrift fur Physik A336/2 (1990) dedicated as a Festschrift on the occasion of his 60th birthday (1990 cite journal |last= |first= |url=http://web.uct.ac.za/org/rssa/newslets/02-aug.htm |title=TRIBUTE TO FRIEDEL SELLSCHOP FRSSAf |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=August 2002 |accessdate=2007-04-08]
* Max Planck Research Prize of the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (1992) "Citation : For his discovery of the neutrino and his pioneering work in the field of diamond" cite news |last= |first= |url=http://web.uct.ac.za/org/rssa/newslets/02-aug.htm |title=TRIBUTE TO FRIEDEL SELLSCHOP FRSSAf |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=August 2002 |accessdate=2007-04-08]
* Heraeus Foundation Fellowship held at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany (1993)
* National Award (gold medal) of the Associated Scientific and Technical Societies of South Africa
* Medal Award of the Diamond Physics Committee (UK) (1994)
* The Int. Conf. on Fundamental and Applied Aspects of Modern Physics was held in his honour - Luderitz, Namibia (2000). cite book |last= |first= |url=http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/4671.html |title=The Proceedings of the International Conference FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED ASPECTS OF MODERN PHYSICS Lüderitz 2000 |publisher=World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. |date=2001 ]
* The 9th International Conference on Nuclear Reaction Mechanisms - Varenna, Italy June 5 – 9, 2000 Dedicated in honour of Friedel Sellschop.
* National Science and Technology Forum Award for Outstanding Contributions in the field of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) over a lifetime (2001)
* Foundation for Research Development Evaluation status "A"
* The first award of the Order of the Baobab (Gold), posthumously by President Thabo Mbeki at the Union Buildings (2002) "Citation : for exceptional contribution to the field of nuclear physics and for detecting the first naturally occurring neutrino" cite news |last= |first= |url=http://sahistory.org.za/pages/artsmediaculture/pages/national-orders/2002-awards.htm#friedel |title=National Awards and Honors |publisher=SAHistory |date= |accessdate=2007-04-08]

Obituary

Sellschop died peacefully on August 4, 2002.cite news |last= |first= |url=http://web.uct.ac.za/org/rssa/newslets/02-aug.htm |title=TRIBUTE TO FRIEDEL SELLSCHOP FRSSAf |publisher=RSAA Newsletter |date=August 2002 |accessdate=2007-04-08] cite news |last= Caveney RJ, Connell SH |first= |url=http://ptonline.aip.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=PHTOAD&Volume=56&Issue=4&usertype=indiv#MAJOR10 |title=Jacques Pierre Friederich Sellschop – Obituary |publisher=AIP, Phys Today 56/4(2003)83-84 |date=April 2003 |accessdate=2007-04-09]

External links

* [http://web.wits.ac.za/ The University of the Witwatersrand]
* [http://www.src.wits.ac.za/ The (former) Schonland Research Centre] This Center was donated by the University of Witwatersrand to the state, to be administered by iThemba LABS in 2005
* [http://www.tlabs.ac.za/ The iThemba LABS (Gauteng)]

Footnotes