Bohr, Aage (1922-2009) | Niels Bohr Archive

Born 19 June 1922, Denmark; died 8 September 2009, Denmark.  Aage Bohr was the son of Niels and Margrethe (Nørlund) Bohr.  He studied physics at the Institute of Theoretical Physics (renamed the Niels Bohr Institute in 1965), University of Copenhagen from 1940. The studies were interrupted by his flight to Sweden, England and then the US in 1943.  He completed the master's degree in 1946 at Copenhagen (title: Rotational states of atomic nuclei). In 1951 Aage Bohr began a close cooperation with Ben R. Mottelson which has continued ever since, the main direction of the work concerning nuclear structure. They are authors of Nuclear Structure, Vol. 1, 1969; Vol. 2, 1975.

Has been connected with the Niels Bohr Institute since 1946, first as a research fellow and from 1956 as professor of physics at the University of Copenhagen. After the death of Niels Bohr, Aage B. followed him as director of the Institute from 1963 until 1970. Through Aage Bohr's efforts the Institute was also an international centre for modern physics after WW II, just as it had been in 1920s and 1930s.

In 1957, Nordita (Nordisk Institut for Teoretisk Atomfysik) was founded on the premises of the Niels Bohr Institute. Aage Bohr was a member of the board from 1958 until 1974, and director, 1975-81.

Recipient Dannie Heineman prize, 1960; Pope Pius XI medal, 1963; Atoms for Peace award, 1969; H.C. Ørsted medal, 1970; Rutherford medal, 1972; John Price Wetherill medal, 1974; Nobel prize in physics, 1975, together with Ben Mottelson and James Rainwater; Ole Rømer medal, 1976.