Sidney D. Drell, 1926 - 2016
Professional and Biographical Information
Hoover Fellows Discussion of life and legacy of Sid Drell, June 17, 2021
Sidney D. Drell 1926-2016. National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir, 2018, by Robert Jaffe and Raymond Jeanloz
SLAC Celebrates Legacy of Theoretical Physicist Sidney Drell. US Department of Energy, 2018-02-06
Sidney Drell, theoretical physicist and national security expert at Stanford, dies at 90. Stanford News Service.
In Memoriam: Sidney D. Drell, 1926-2016, Arms Control Association, January/February 2017. By Daryl G. Kimball
Sidney Drell, Who Advised Presidents on Nuclear Weapons, Dies at 90. New York Times. December 22, 2016
The Friendships of Sid Drell by Philip Taubman. Stanford Alumni Magazine March/April 2017
SLAC Director's Office profile
Sidney D. Drell: Into the Heart of Matter, Passionately by Lenora Ferro with Susan Southworth, 2021
The Legacy of Sidney Drell, William Grimes, New York Times, 12/24/2016
Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) profile
Interview with Sidney Drell, InMenlo blog, August 23, 2012
Biography from program for Drell's 50-year Service Award:
Sidney Drell, Professor Emeritus, Director's Office, 7/1/1954
Sidney Drell came to Stanford in 1951 after obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois in 1949. In 1956, Sidney was hired as a Professor of Physics at SLAC, as well as serving as Deputy Director of SLAC from 1969 to 1998. Since 1998, he has been Professor Emeritus at SLAC and senior fellow, by courtesy, at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace. He was also a founding member of JASON, a group of scientists who consult the government on critical national issues. Sidney served as a member of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1993 to 2001. He has served on many other outstanding positions and received many awards and accolades for his work in physics and nuclear arms control. In 1998, it was said of Sid’s impact on arms control & defense, that “Sid has been an important contributor to, indeed shaper of, the debates and the concerns about the issues. His research and contributions have spanned the fields of theoretical physics, elementary particle physics, and quantum theory; national security and arms control.
Foreword (Appreciation of Sid Drell) by James D. Bjorken, and Reflections by Sidney D. Drell, and A Physicist in the World of Violins by William Atwood. In SLAC Beam Line Quarterly, Summer, 1998.
Events and Photos
Sid Drell Symposium aka the Drell Fest, an all-day symposium held at SLAC, 7/30/1998
National Medal of Science, 2011
Sidney Drell - 2011 National Medal of Science (video) National Science and Technology Medals Foundation.
NNSA Administrator's Gold Medal of Excellence 2012
Heinz Public Policy Award
The Heinz Awards including biography, speech, and video
5/3/2005 Press Release: Nuclear Arms Adviser Sidney Drell to Receive Heinz Public Policy Award
Enrico Fermi Award
11/9/2000 Stanford University Press Release: President Clinton Names Enrico Fermi Award Winners Stanford's Sidney Drell Honored
SLAC Colloquia
11/2003 The Gravest Danger, Nuclear Weapons and their Proliferation
5/15/2000 Investigations into Security Problems at DOE and the National Weapons Laboratories
Hoover Institution
Schultz, Perry and Drell discuss nuclear deterrence, Hoover Institution, September 15, 2011
Panel 2: Lessons Learned in National Security Policy, Hoover Institution April 1, 2016
For a list of photo descriptions of Drell (some with thumbnails) in the SLAC Archives, History and Records Office collections, please search the SLAC catalog in SALLIE (works best in Firefox browser)
Publications
For a list of Sidney D. Drell publications, please see the entries in inSPIRE HEP and in Google Scholar
For a list of SLAC newsletter articles about Drell (some with links to full text), please go to our Popular Periodicals database
Archival Materials
Drell papers held by the SLAC Archives, History & Records Office are currently being processed, and are not yet open for research. SLAC staff may access descriptions of his papers by clicking this link and entering his last name, first initial in the search box at the upper right on that page.
Sidney D. Drell miscellaneous papers at the Hoover Institution
Niels Bohr Library & Archives, Center for History of Physics of the American Institute of Physics oral history
