# Val Logsdon Fitch

_American physicist_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/val-logsdon-fitch
Last updated: 2026-10-31

> Val Logsdon Fitch (March 10, 1923 – February 5, 2015) was an American nuclear physicist who, with co-researcher James Cronin, was awarded the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics for a 1964 experiment using the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron at Brookhaven National Laboratory that proved that certain subatomic reactions do not adhere to fundamental symmetry principles. Specifically, they proved, by examining the decay of K-mesons, that a reaction run in reverse does not retrace the path of the original reaction, which showed that the reactions of subatomic particles are not indifferent to time. Thus the phenomenon of CP violation was discovered. This demolished the faith that physicists had that natural laws were governed by symmetry.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 10 March 1923 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Merriman ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P19))
- **Died:** 5 February 2015 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P570))
- **Place of death:** Princeton ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P20))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P27))
- **Occupation:** nuclear physicist; university teacher; physicist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P106))
- **Education:** McGill University; Columbia University; Northwestern University; Chadron State College ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P69))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physics; John Price Wetherill Medal; National Medal of Science; Fellow of the American Physical Society; Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499#P166))

## About

Born on a cattle ranch near Merriman, Nebraska, Fitch was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II, and worked on the Manhattan Project at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. He later graduated from McGill University, and completed his PhD in physics in 1954 at Columbia University.  He was a member of the faculty at Princeton University from 1954 until his retirement in 2005.

## Questions

**When was Val Logsdon Fitch born?**  
Val Logsdon Fitch was born on 10 March 1923 in Merriman.

**Where did Val Logsdon Fitch study?**  
Val Logsdon Fitch was educated at McGill University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, Chadron State College.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Val Logsdon Fitch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Logsdon_Fitch) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q206499](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q206499) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Val Fitch.jpg by ENERGY.GOV (Public domain)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Val_Fitch.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Val Logsdon Fitch, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Val Fitch.jpg — ENERGY.GOV, Public domain.

## Cite this page

"Val Logsdon Fitch". DigiNepal. Last updated 31 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/val-logsdon-fitch. Retrieved 5 November 2026.