Colby, Walter F., 1880-1970

Walter F. Colby was a professor of physics at the University of Michigan. He was born in Rockford, Michigan in 1880, and attended high school in Muskegon. He earned his bachelor of arts degree at the University of Michigan in 1901 and the doctor of philosophy degree in 1909. He has also studied abroad, at the University of Vienna, Tuebingen, Munich, and Hamburg, and at the Behr Institute, in Copenhagen.

In 1906, Colby was appointed an assistant in the department of physics of the University of Michigan. He became full professor in 1919. During World War II, Colby participated in an army intelligence mission to Paris and Germany. In 1947 he was awarded the Medal of Freedom in recognition of this service.

In 1929 Professor Colby married Martha Guernsey, associate professor of psychology at the University of Michigan. He died in 1980.

Fri Jul 3 1970
Dr. Colby Dies at 90 in East
Dr. Walter F. Colby, professor of physics at the University from 1906 until 1950, died yesterday in Washington, D.C., at the age of 90.
Born in Rockford, Mich., in 1880, Dr. Colby attended high school in Muskegon, received his B.A. from the University in 1901 and his Ph.D. in 1909.
Dr. Colby also studied at the University of Vienna and did research in Tubingen, Munich and Hamburg, Germany, as well as at the Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark.
During World War II, he worked with U.S. Intelligence.
Dr. Colby was awarded the Medal of Freedom on behalf of the Department of the Army in 1947, and received the Order of the British Empire in 1948.
He was a member of the American Physical Society, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Phi Beta Kappa.