UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 22, Page 10
March 4, 1993
Morris Library receives Karl Boer papers

     The University Library is the recipient of the Karl Wolfgang Boer
Papers, a recent gift by Boer.
     Boer, whose papers cover 53 linear feet, is a pioneer in the field of
solar cells, solar energy systems and solid state physics.
     Boer, who is professor of physics and engineering at the University of
Delaware, earned a Ph.D. in physics from Berlin's Humboldt University in
1952. In 1955, he founded the Division of Dielectric Breakdown at the
German Academy of Science and shortly thereafter the IV Physics Department
at Humboldt University where he was director and chaired professor.
     In 1962 he accepted a position at New York University and moved to the
University of Delaware that same year.  In 1971, he established the
University's Institute for Energy Conversion, which recently was designated
as a national center of excellence for photovoltaic research and education
by the U.S. Department of Energy. Boer also created SES Inc., a subsidiary
of Shell Oil, and was its chairman and CEO until 1976 and chief scientist
until 1981.
     Boer is a fellow of the American Physical Society, a senior member of
the IEEE and served as president of the American Solar Energy Society in
1976 and 1977.
     He is a founder of Physica Status Solidi, one of the largest
international journals in solid state physics, and serves as editor of
several other journals and numerous conference proceedings, author of
several book chapters and, most recently, the author of Survey of
Semiconductor Physics, the most comprehensive treatment in the field ever
written by a single author.
     Boer has received over 38 grants and contracts totaling in excess of
$9 million from industry and government. He has published extensively with
over 280 publications and 28 patents.
     The recipient of numerous national and international awards, he was
honored in 1987 by the University of Delaware, which established the Karl
W. Boer Solar Energy Medal of Merit.
     The first recipient of this award, presented on Feb. 16, was former
U.S. President Jimmy Carter.