George Washington Pierce, distinguished physicist, has retired after forty years' service on the Faculty, and has been named Rumford Professor of Physics and Gordon McKay Professor of Communication Engineering, emeritus, effective next September 1, the University announced today.

He has also resigned as Director of the University's Cruft Memorial Laboratory of Communication Engineering.

Pioneer in Research

Since joining the Faculty in 1901, Pierce has pioneered in many fields of radio research. Some of his first work was on the applications of electrical circuits to radio. During the World War he invented several devices, notably instruments used on ships for submarine detection and also for depth finding.

More recently he has conducted research in the field of high-frequency oscillation, developing the quartz crystal oscillator used by radio stations to fix transmission frequencies. He has also applied his researches on high frequencies to supersonic sounds of nature, studying the extremely high notes of insects, beyond the range of human hearing.

Named in 1921

Pierce was named Rumford Professor of Physics in 1921, and Gordon McKay Professor of Communication Engineering in 1935. He has been director of the Cruft Laboratory since 1914. He was born at Webberville, Texas, 1872; received the S.B. degree from the University of Texas in 1893, and the A.M. in 1894; he received the A.M. of Harvard in 1899, and the Ph.D. in 1900. He was named assistant in Physics, 1901; Instructor in Physics, 1902; assistant professor of Physics, 1907; and professor of Physics, 1917.