Zorn, Jens C.

Jens Zorn was born on June 19, 1931 and grew up in Los Angeles, California and Bloomington, Indiana. He earned his A.B. degree at Miami University in 1955 and a Ph.D. in physics at Yale University in 1961. He came to the University of Michigan in 1962 as an assistant professor of physics, and became full professor in 1970. Experimental atomic physics and laboratory astrophysics were some of his primary research areas, among several others. In addition to teaching and research duties, Zorn served in many administrative capacities, including participating on committees for instrument shop supervision, graduate curriculum review, and graduate student fellowships. From 1988 to 1991, he was co-chair of the International Conference on Atomic Physics.

Zorn was very active in the university as a whole. Several of his major assignments are documented in the collection. From 1967 to 1976, he taught a freshman seminar at the Residential College on the effect of technology on Appalachian life. He has also served many administrative functions at the college. From 1977 to 1982, he served on the executive committee of the University of Michigan Press, and he was the chair of the Curriculum Committee for the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LS&A), between 1980 and 1982. From 1988 to 1990, he served as chair of University Council; during his service, the council dealt with the issues of free speech and the harassment of protesters.

In addition to these major assignments, Zorn worked on a number of committees, including the committee to consider granting tenure to part-time professors; a review of the ROTC curriculum; organizing a grass-roots effort in 1975 to gain permanent status as dean for then temporary LSA dean Billy Frye; and leading an effort to improve the language proficiency of foreign teaching assistants during the early 1980s. Zorn was also involved in LS&A grievance committees dealing with personnel disputes and tenure denials.

From the guide to the Jens C. Zorn papers, 1956-1995, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)