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Warren Buck
Maker interview details
Interview
- March 29, 2013
Profession
- Category:
ScienceMakers
- Occupation(s):
Physicist
Birthplace
- Born: February 16, 1946
- Birth Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Favorites
- Favorite Color: Cerulean Blue, Burnt Umber
- Favorite Food: Chili (Green)
- Favorite Time of Year: All Seasons
- Favorite Vacation Spot: San Juan Islands
Favorite Quote
"Everything will change. Nothing's permanent."
Biography
Physicist Warren Wesley Buck, III was born on February 16, 1946 to Warren W. Buck, Jr. and Mildred G. Buck in Washington, D.C. He was raised in Washington, D.C. and graduated from Spingarn High School in 1963. After graduating from Morgan State University in 1968 with his B.S. degree in mathematics, Buck enrolled at the College of William and Mary where he received his M.S. degree in experimental and theoretical plasma physics in 1970 and his Ph.D. degree in theoretical relativistic nuclear physics in 1976.
Throughout his career, Buck has continued to do research in physics and has published numerous papers in academic journals. Most of his research interests focused on nuclear and subatomic particles, including studies of the interactions between particles and anti-particles and the nature of mesons and the quark model. Buck joined the faculty of Hampton University in 1984 after sailing on his motorless boat for three consecutive years from Massachusetts to the Bahamas. He became a full professor at Hampton University in 1989. He also helped create the Ph.D. program in physics, which was the first Ph.D. degree program at Hampton University. Buck was a member of the team that established the science program at the Department of Energy’s Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. He was also the founding director of the Nuclear/High Energy Physics Research Center of Excellence at Hampton University. In 1999, Buck was appointed chancellor and dean of the University of Washington, Bothell. He served in the position for six years. During his term, the University of Washington, Bothell became a four-year institution, and its new permanent campus was opened in the fall of 2000. Buck is also a painter, blending humanistic and physical elements in his art.
Buck has been recognized for his work as an educator and a researcher, being elected to membership in the American Physical Society (APS) and creating the popular Hampton University Graduate Studies (HUGS) summer school for nuclear physics graduate students worldwide. Buck was given the Hulon Willis Association Impact Award for his work within the African American community at the College of William and Mary. In 2001, Buck was named a “Giant in Science,” by the Quality Education for Minorities (QEM) Network. Buck has served on many advisory boards and committees, including the Committee on Education of the American Physical Society. He has also served on the board of directors of the Pacific Science Center. Buck married Cate Buck in 2006.
Warren Buck was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 29, 2013.
Previews from the Digital Archive
Watch the full interview in the Digital Archive
- Slating of Warren Wesley Buck's interview - part one
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his father, Warren Buck, Jr.
- Slating of Warren Wesley Buck's interview - part two
- Warren Wesley Buck lists his favorites
- Warren Wesley describes his mother's family background - part one
- Warren Wesley describes his mother's family background - part two
- Warren Wesley describes his mother's growing up in Evanston, Illinois
- Warren Wesley talks about his mother's experience at Lincoln University, Missouri
- Warren Wesley describes his father's family background
- Warren Wesley describes his father's growing up in St. Louis, Missouri
- Warren Wesley talks about his father winning a lawsuit against the federal government
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his father's education and his employment as a draftsman
- Warren Wesley Buck describes how his parents met at Lincoln University
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his parents' personalities and who he takes after
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his earliest childhood memory
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about the neighborhoods where he grew up in Washington, D.C.
- Warren Wesley Buck describes the sights, sounds and smells of growing up in Washington, D.C.
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his experience with segregation at River Terrace Elementary School and Benning Elementary School
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his segregated neighborhood in Washington, D.C., and his extracurricular interests in elementary school
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his childhood interest in scientific gadgets and science shows on television
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his childhood experiments with insects
- Warren Buck talks about his unfortunate experience with raising mice, and his growing up with boxer dogs named Jingles and Taffy
- Warren Buck talks about his demonstration of rain that received recognition at a district science fair, and his elementary school mentor, Mr. Downing
- Warren Buck describes his experience in junior high school, and the lack of mentoring that he received there
- Warren Buck describes his experience in the Boy Scouts, and talks about becoming an Eagle Scout
- Warren Buck describes his experience on his Boy Scouts trip to Philmont, New Mexico
- Warren Buck describes his academic experience at Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C.
- Warren Buck describes his experience with running track at Spingarn High School, and the 440 yard dash at the Penn Relays
- Warren Buck talks about his academic performance and the poor counseling that he received at Spingarn High School in Washington, D.C.
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about graduating from Spingarn High School and his decision to attend Lincoln University in Missouri
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his experience at Lincoln University in Missouri, and his decision to leave after the first two years
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his reasons for leaving Lincoln University
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his jobs in Washington, D.C. after he returned from Lincoln University
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about the Director of Selective Service who signed his deferment from the Vietnam War in 1965, allowing him to attend college
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his mentors and his academic achievement in mathematics and physics at Morgan State College
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about how he met his wife
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his positive college experience at Morgan State College
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his decision to pursue graduate studies at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia
- Warren Wesley Buck recalls the rioting in Washington, D.C. on the night that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his mother's involvement in early childhood education, and her being one of the first teachers for the Head Start Program
- Warren Wesley Buck recalls facing discrimination in Williamsburg, but feeling welcomed by the physics department at the College of William and Mary
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his summer research experience at Johns Hopkins University's mechanics department in 1968
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his enthusiasm for his graduate work in the area of plasma physics at the College of William and Mary
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about founding the Black Student Organization at the College of William and Mary, and his political activism there
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his decision to leave the College of William and Mary with a master's degree in physics
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about nearly joining the Black Panther Party, his introduction into sailing, and the break-up of his first marriage
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his experience with integrating the Tampa Yacht Club in 1971
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his relationship with his master's degree advisor, Frederick Crownfield
- Warren Wesley Buck describes the scientific basis of his doctoral dissertation, titled 'Deuteron Wave Functions with Relativistic Interactions'
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about the value of combining theoretical and experimental physics to understand a scientific problem
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about the discovery of the electron in 1898, and describes how a television works
- Warren Wesley Buck describes the findings of his doctoral dissertation, titled 'Deuteron Wave Functions with Relativistic Interactions'
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his father attending his scientific presentation at an American Physical Society [APS] meeting
- Warren Wesley Buck talks about his experience in the Bahamas in the spring of 1976, and describes his post-doctoral appointment at Stony Brook University
- Warren Wesley Buck describes his post-doctoral research on matter and anti-matter interactions, at Stony Brook University
- Warren Wesley Buck describes the scientific community's response to his post-doctoral research findings on matter and anti-matter interactions