Zallen, Richard, b.1937
Biographical Note
Richard Henry Zallen was born in New York City in 1937. After receiving his bachelors of science in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1957, Zallen continued his education at Harvard University‐eventually receiving his Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 1964. From 1966 to 1983, Dr. Zallen worked at the Xerox Research Laboratories in Rochester, New York. While working at Xerox, he was part of a team that patented Spin Coated Photoconductor Films. After his research at Xerox, Dr. Zallen served as a professor of physics at Virginia Tech. In 1976 Dr. Zallen became a fellow of the American Physical Society. During his sabbaticals, Dr. Zallen held several visiting appointments. From 1971 to 1972 he acted as the visiting associate professor of physics at the Technion, The Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa; in the summer of 1979 he was the visiting professor at the Université de Paris VI; from 1990 to 1991 he was the SERC senior research fellow at Imperial College in London; and in 1998 he served as the visiting professor at Imperial College in London. Dr. Zallen's primary research interest lies in experimental studies of the optical properties of solids. In pursuance of his interests, Dr. Zallen has published more than one hundred articles and a widely cited book, The Physics of Amorphous Solids. In 2006, the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors honored Dr. Zallen with the title professor emeritus.