Boris Kayser

Boris Jules Kayser (June 2, 1938 – April 14, 2024) was an American theoretical physicist. He specialized in the study of neutrinos. He worked at the National Science Foundation for nearly thirty years before joining the US government research facility Fermilab. He retired from Fermilab in 2012. For five years, he was the editor of the peer-reviewed journal the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science.

Early life and education Kayser was born in 1938 to Saul and Dora Kayser and grew up on a chicken farm in New Jersey. He had two younger sisters, twins Leah and Marsha. While in high school, he was a finalist for the Westinghouse Science Talent Search in 1956. He graduated from Lakewood High School in 1956 as valedictorian. His PhD advisor was Fredrik Zachariasen.

Career After a post-doctoral position at UC Berkeley, Kayser was an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook from 1966 to 1969, when he joined the physics department at Northwestern University as associate professor. In 1972, Kayser joined the National Science Foundation, where he was the program director for theoretical physics. While there, he helped establish the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at University of California, Santa Barbara. He left the editor position in 2009. While working at NSF, he became interested in researching neutrinos and was principal author of a book, "The Physics of Massive Neutrinos". He retired from the NSF in 2001, after which he joined Fermilab as a distinguished guest scientist. While at Fermilab, he served on a variety of committees, including the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (2002–2007) and the Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee (2004–2008). In 2009, he was elected the chair of the American Physical Society's Division of Particles and Fields. He officially retired from Fermilab at the end of 2012.

Boris Kayser died on April 14, 2024, at the age of 85.