University of Chicago connection. What are the odds?

What is it about the university of Chicago?

My son recently graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Physics last week. I’m bursting with pride at his accomplishment.

Some very prominent Nobel prize winners are associated with The University of Chicago Physics department:

Albert Abraham Michelson, Robert Andrews Millikan, James Franck Holly Compton Werner Heisenberg Clinton Joseph Davisson Enrico Fermi, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, Owen Chamberlain Maria Goeppert-Mayer Eugene Wigner Julian Schwinger Hans Albrecht Bethe Luis W. Alvarez Murray Gell-Mann Robert Schrieffer James W. Cronin Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Dr. Jack Steinberger Leon Lederman Jerome Isaac Friedman Daniel Chee Tsui Frank Wilczek. 

It pretty much reads like a “Who’s Who” in physics.

Did I tell you I’m pretty proud of my son? Maybe he’ll be on this list someday.

Meanwhle, the University of Chicago has the distinction of graduating some pretty illustrious lights in the Intelligent Design movement and other anti-evolution types:

Phillip E. Johnson B.A University of Chicago

William Dembski PhD University of Chicago

James Shapiro Professor University of Chicago

Paul Nelson Ph.D. University of Chicago

Is it the gargoyles at the University of Chicago…or is it something more sinister?

 

Comments

[RPM]

Don't worry. Most people in the field view Chicago as a hotbet for evolutionary biology. They have an impressive list of faculty (http://pondside.uchicago.edu/ceb/faculty.html), and are viewed as one of the top evolutionary genetics research centers.

[Kenneth Fair]

I think it's the winters myself. And all that grey stone.

[Kelvin Kean]

As much as I'd like to credit Chicago with having granted Phillip Johnson's his BA, sadly, he earned it at Harvard in '61 (cum laude). I don't have his CV in front of me but i think he may have earned his law degree at Chicago, so your anecdotal take still applies.