Allan MacLeod Cormack

Allan MacLeod Cormack
Born	February 23, 1924 Johannesburg,South Africa
Died	May 7, 1998(1998-05-07)(aged 74) Winchester,Massachusetts,United States
Alma mater	Rondebosch Boys' High School University of Cape Town St John's College, Cambridge
Known for	Computed tomography
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine(1979) National Medal of Science(1990)
Scientific career
Fields	Physics

Allan MacLeod Cormack(February 23, 1924 – May 7, 1998) was aSouth African Americanphysicistwho won the 1979Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine(along withGodfrey Hounsfield) for his work onX-raycomputed tomography(CT), a significant and unusual achievement since Cormack did not hold a doctoral degree in any scientific field.

Early life and education

Cormack was born on February 23, 1924, inJohannesburg,South Africa. He attendedRondebosch Boys' High SchoolinCape Town,where he was active in the debating and tennis teams.He received his B.Sc. inphysicsin 1944 from theUniversity of Cape Townand his M.Sc. incrystallographyin 1945 from the same institution. He was a doctoral student atCambridge Universityfrom 1947 to 1949, and while at Cambridge he met his future wife, Barbara Seavey, an American physics student.

Career

After marrying Barbara, he returned to the University of Cape Town in early 1950 to lecture. Following a sabbatical atHarvardin 1956–57, the couple agreed to move to the United States, and Cormack became a professor atTufts Universityin the fall of 1957. Cormack became anaturalized citizenof the United States in 1966. Although he was mainly working onparticle physics,Cormack's side interest in x-ray technology led him to develop the theoretical underpinnings of CT scanning. This work was initiated at the University of Cape Town andGroote Schuur Hospitalin early 1956 and continued briefly in mid-1957 after returning from his sabbatical. His results were subsequently published in two papers in the Journal of Applied Physics in 1963 and 1964. These papers generated little interest untilHounsfieldand colleagues built the first CT scanner in 1971, taking Cormack's theoretical calculations into a real application. For their independent efforts, Cormack and Hounsfield shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. It is notable that the two built a very similar type of device without collaboration in different parts of the world [3]. He was member of the International Academy of Science, Munich. In 1990, he was awarded theNational Medal of Science.

Death

Cormack died of cancer inWinchester, Massachusetts,at age 74. He was posthumously awarded theOrder of Mapungubweon December 10, 2002, for outstanding achievements as a scientist and for co-inventing the CT scanner.

External links

• Quotations related toAllan MacLeod Cormackat Wikiquote
• Allan M. Cormackon Nobelprize.org