Navigating the Maze

Michael S. Lubell earned his B.A. (1963) from Columbia University, and his M.S. (1965) and Ph.D. (1969) from Yale University. He was a member of the Yale faculty from 1971 to 1980, where his academic activities included directing the Combined Sciences Program. He joined the Physics Department at CCNY in 1980, where he served as Department Chair from 1999 to 2006. He also served as Director of Public Affairs of The American Physical Society (APS) from 1994 to 2016. He has held fellowships from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst. He has also held concurrent positions at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Texas-Austin, the Santa Barbara (Kavli) Institute of Theoretical Physics and Universität Bielefeld. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his biography appears in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who in Science and Engineering and Who’s Who in American Education.Dr. Lubell's publications comprise more than 250 articles and abstracts in scientific journals and books covering subjects in the fields of high-energy physics, nuclear physics, atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics, energy research and science policy. His use of polarized electrons to probe fundamental processes in atoms, nuclei and nucleons is internationally known. His science research interests now center on AMO studies of quantum chaos and simple molecular systems and energy efficiency. He has taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate physics courses at Yale and CCNY, as well as a very popular introductory astronomy course and equally popular seminars on science, science policy and politics.

• PART ONE: Past is Prologue1. The early years 1787–18602. The Civil War era and its legacy years 1860–18703. The Gilded Age 1870–19004. A new century: A new America 1900–19255. From depression to global engagement 1925–19456. Donning the mantle of world leadership 1945–19527. Growing pains 1952–19748. A fresh start 1974–1992PART TWO: Science and Technology Policies in the Modern Age9. Crossing new intersections 1992–200010. Years of anxiety 2001–200811. Recovery and reinvention 2009–201612. Loose changeReferences