Facundo Bueso Sanllehí
Facundo Bueso Sanllehí (February 5, 1905 – January 24, 1960) was a physicist, educator, science communicator and athlete. He was born on February 5, 1905, in Mexico City, Mexico. His family was forced to flee to Spain in 1915 because of the Mexican Revolution. Later in 1917 the family moved from Spain to San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Facundo Bueso Sanllehí | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 5, 1905 Mexico City, Mexico |
| Died | January 24, 1960 |
| Resting place | Buxeda Memorial Park Cemetery, Río Piedras, Puerto Rico |
| Citizenship | US Citizen (June 27, 1932) |
| Alma mater | University of Puerto Rico (B.S.) University of Chicago (M.S., Ph.D.) |
| Spouse | Carmen Luisa Nieva Heyliger |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards | Scoville Medal (1927, University of Puerto Rico), Proficiency Medal from the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) (1927), Guggenheim Fellow in Physics (1940, 1941), Hall of Fame of Sports in Puerto Rico (1958) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras |
| Thesis | Rotational Analysis of the 2900Å Band of CO2+ (1941) |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert S. Mulliken (Nobel Laureate of Chemistry, 1966) |
In 1927 he obtained a B.S. degree in Physics (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. He became a Teaching Assistant of Physics before obtaining his B.S. degree (1926–1927). He obtained an M.S. degree in Physics from the University of Chicago in 1929. In 1941 he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. In 1940 and in 1941 he received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for Physics for studies in the field of band spectra.
He worked at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus from 1926 to 1960. He was a Physics Professor, Chairman of the Department of Physics, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. In 1943 he was named Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences. Facundo Bueso was the first person to hold that position. Bueso died on January 24, 1960, when the motor boat in which he traveled was overturned near Isla Verde, Puerto Rico.
He was an excellent communicator of science and participated in many radio and TV programs. He was inducted into the Puerto Rican Sports Pavilion, also known as 'El Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño,' in 1950,("El Pabellón de la Fama del Deporte Puertorriqueño") and the Hall of Fame of Sports in Puerto Rico ('El Salón de la Fama del Deporte en Puerto Rico') on January 25, 1958. The University of Puerto Rico's Río Piedras campus has a historical building named in his honor, which is part of the Faculty of Natural Sciences.