The History of Kell Hall

December 4, 2018

Rod was recruited to do an interview on the history of Kell Hall at Georgia State University. He was chosen partly because he had the longest association with Kell Hall of anyone readily available, having moved into his office in 514B Kell Hall in 1968. So at the time of the interview, he had been at the University for 50 years!

A group associated with the GSU Library was interested in producing a historical record since Kell Hall would soon be replaced by a plaza central to the University. Another reason that Rod was chosen was that the group had done research and found a lot of Kell Hall pictures on the Nave family website. The photos below were used as background in the interview and may be clicked to link to the document in which they were found.

The interview went all the way back to Rod's postdoc at the University College of North Wales in 1966-67 and they picked out this picture of me reading in our apartment in Beaumaris. During that time I was recruited by Dr. Joe Hadley of Georgia State and began there in January of 1968..

There was a strong emphasis on the physics research that was done in Kell Hall. This is a 1979 photo of Rod's preparation of an irradiated crystal for ESR (Electron Spin Resonance) studies in the primary research lab of Dr. Joe Hadley at the south end of the 5th floor of Kell Hall.Rod did several years of ESR research after he shut down the microwave spectroscopy lab.

Rod in his office, 514B Kell Hall, which he occupied from 1968 until about 1990 when he moved to an office in the Science Annex which adjoins the Natural Science Center. In 1991 he opened a teaching laboratory in 222 NSC, developed with a grant based on his Conceptual Physics course for educating science teachers for high school and middle school.

Rod adjusting the microwave frequency electronics for detecting the ESR signals. The dewar flask hanging over the magnet behind him is to allow data collection as low as liquid nitrogen temperature. The crystal samples are irradiated with high doses of x-rays to do damage to the biologically related crystal materials. Sometimes the free-radicals produced are unstable, so we study them at very low temperatures first to get closer to seeing the nature of the original damage. Then we watch the changes as we take data at higher and higher temperatures.

Rod is adjusting the temperature-control system that lets us control the temperature of the crystal sample in this ESR spectrometer. This is in Bill Nelson's lab and Rod did research on the radiation damage to some biologically related molecules and co-authored a paper with Bill on that research project. This spectrometer has a larger magnet and a more sophisticated temperature-control system. It takes liquid nitrogen from the large dewar in front and uses it in a controlled system which allows choosing the temperature at which data is collected.

Dan Witt, Shop Manager and Machinist, in the Physics and Astronomy Shop. The machine shop was at the south end of the 5th floor of Kell Hall and supported all the research labs on that floor. Graduate Student Kerry Pullen at bandsaw at left.

Martin Meder explaining Feynman diagrams in 1978 in a Kell Hall laboratory classroom. Martin was involved in nuclear experimental work in his Kell Hall laboratory as well as theoretical work. The classrooms and laboratories on the 5th floor were equipped with chalkboards which were the main medium for instruction.

Steve Manson presenting the Born Approximation on a chalkboard on the 5th floor of Kell Hall in 1978.

Jim Purcell teaching in the laboratory room 516 Kell Hall. The door to this lab room was directly across the hall from Rod's office in 514B Kell. Rod often used 516 Kell for the laboratory of the Physics of Music and Speech course, and used it for both classroom and laboratory for the Conceptual Physics course from 1980 until he opened the new classroom/laboratory in the Natural Science Center in 1991.

Bob Hankla at a social for the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the home of Bill Nelson in October 1992. Pictured with him are Dave Wingert and his wife.

Rod teaching the Physics of Music and Speech in 526 Kell Hall 1n 1979. Rod developed this musical acoustics course in 1970, following a course taught by Dr. Brant Jenkins. It was taught mostly in either 519 or 526 Kell, both just down the hall from his office.

Physics and Astronomy Faculty and Staff iin Kell Hall, May 1979. L-R: Gus Petitt, Bill Mallard, Frank Hsu, Rod Nave, Jim Purcell, Martin Meder, Dave Wingert, Bill Nelson, Dick Miller, Steve Manson, Bob Hankla, Hal McAlister, Joe Hadley, Kathy Duggleby.