# Charles H. Townes

_20th-century American physicist_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/charles-h-townes
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> Charles Hard Townes (July 28, 1915 – January 27, 2015) was an American physicist. Townes worked on the theory and application of the maser, for which he obtained the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics associated with both maser and laser devices. He shared the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov. Townes was an adviser to the U.S. Government, meeting every President from Harry S. Truman (1945) to Bill Clinton (1999).

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 28 July 1915 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Greenville ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P19))
- **Died:** 27 January 2015 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P570))
- **Place of death:** Oakland ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P27))
- **Occupation:** physicist; nuclear physicist; university teacher; inventor ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P106))
- **Education:** California Institute of Technology; Duke University; Furman University; Greenville High School ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P69))
- **Spouse:** Frances Brow ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P26))
- **Awards:** Guggenheim Fellowship; Niels Bohr International Gold Medal; Nobel Prize in Physics; Frederic Ives Medal; Stuart Ballantine Medal; Templeton Prize; SPIE Gold Medal; IEEE David Sarnoff Award; Lomonosov Gold Medal; Petrie Prize Lecture; IEEE Medal of Honor; Wilhelm Exner Medal; Henry Norris Russell Lectureship; National Medal of Science; Karl Schwarzschild Medal ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566#P166))

## About

Townes directed the U.S. government's Science and Technology Advisory Committee for the Apollo lunar landing program. After becoming a professor of the University of California, Berkeley, in 1967, he began an astrophysical program that produced several important discoveries, for example, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Townes was religious, and believed that science and religion are converging to provide a greater understanding of the nature and purpose of the universe.

## Questions

**When was Charles H. Townes born?**  
Charles H. Townes was born on 28 July 1915 in Greenville.

**Where did Charles H. Townes study?**  
Charles H. Townes was educated at California Institute of Technology, Duke University, Furman University, Greenville High School.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Charles H. Townes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Townes) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q184566](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184566) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Charles Townes.jpg by Unknown author Unknown author (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Townes.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Charles H. Townes, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Charles Townes.jpg — Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Charles H. Townes". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/charles-h-townes. Retrieved 4 November 2026.