Ramberg, E. G., (Edward Granville), 1907-

A physicist and social activist, Edward Granville Ramberg was born in Florence, Italy, on June 14, 1907, to an American mother and German. Lucy (Dodd), an artist, and Walter, a philologist, surrounded their children Walter, Edward, and Lucy with art and culture, raising them in a rare cosmopolitan atmosphere in which they spoke French, German, Italian, and English. But Edward's life changed abruptly at seven, when his father was killed while serving with the German army.

After moving to Munich for the duration of the war, the Rambergs returned to Lucy's family home in Portland, Oregon, in 1920, graduating from Lincoln High two years later. An excellent student with a marked ability in quantitative sciences, Ramberg's collegiate career was neverthless marked by several interruptions. Although he enrolled at Reed College in 1922, he transferred to Cornell two years later, taking a hiatus from 1925-1927 to work in optical computation at Bausch and Lomb Optical Company. He decided to remain at Cornell after receiving his bachelor's degree in 1928 to work with F. K. Richtmyer, with whom he continued to collaborate throughout the 1930s.

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