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The I.I. Rabi Science Scholars Program

I. I. Rabi
Isidor Isaac Rabi,
Nobel laureate

Columbia College initiated the Rabi Scholars Program in memory of 1944 Nobel Laureate and Columbia physics faculty member I. I. Rabi. About ten incoming first year students who demonstrate exceptional promise in the sciences are chosen to be Rabi Scholars, a designation retained for their four years at Columbia College. This distinction guarantees summer research jobs with free summer housing on campus, as well as other benefits.

About Isidor Isaac Rabi

From Nobelprize.org:

After three years in non-scientific occupation, he started postgraduate studies in physics at Cornell in 1921, which he later continued at Columbia University. In 1927 he received his Ph.D. degree for work on the magnetic properties of crystals. Aided by fellowships, he spent two years in Europe, working at different times with Sommerfeld, Bohr, Pauli, Stern, and Heisenberg. On his return in 1929 he was appointed lecturer in Theoretical Physics at Columbia University, and after promotion through the various grades became professor in 1937.

From Wikipedia:

Isidor Isaac Rabi (pronounced /ˈrɑːbi/; 29 July 1898 – 11 January 1988) was a Galician-born American physicist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance.

Fact

The Columbia College Valedictorians of the Classes of 2002 (Kareen Rozen), 2003 (Max Lipyanskiy), 2004 (Jacob Barandes), 2006 (Jaehee Kim) and 2007 (Claire Lackner) were Rabi Scholars.