AZÁROFF, Leonid V. 1926-

(Leonid Vladimirovitch Azároff)

PERSONAL: Born June 19, 1926, in Moscow, USSR (now Russia); immigrated to the United States, 1939; naturalized U.S. citizen, 1945; son of Vladimir Ivanovich (an agronomist) and Maria Yulievna (a pharmacist; maiden name, Odlen) Azároff; married Carmen Wade, March 9, 1946 (divorced July 4, 1968); married Beth Sulzer, March 4, 1972; children: David Sulzer, Richard, Lenore. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Tufts College (now University), B.S. (cum laude), 1948; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D., 1953. Politics: Republican. Hobbies and other interests: Swimming, biking.

ADDRESSES: Home—(winter) 5555 Heron Point Dr., Apt. 1102, Naples, FL 34108; (summer) P.O. Box 103, Storrs, CT 06268. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Armour Research Foundation, Chicago, IL, research physicist, 1953–54, senior scientist, 1954–57; Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, associate professor, 1957–61, professor of metallurgical engineering, 1957–61; University of Connecticut, Storrs, professor of physics and director of Institute for Materials Science, 1966–92; retired, 1992. Brookhaven National Laboratory, visiting scientist, 1961–62, 1964; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, visiting professor, 1978–79, 1985–86. Member of board of directors, Rogers Corp., Connecticut Product Development Corp., and Connecticut Innovation, Inc.; consultant to corporations. Military service: U.S. Army, 1944–46.

MEMBER: International Union of Physics, International Union of Crystal Growth, American Physical Society (fellow), American Crystallographic Association, Mineralogical Society of America, American Institute of Metallurgical and Mineralogical Engineers, American Institute of Mining Engineers, American Institute of Electronic Engineers, American Academy for the Advancement of Science (member of board of directors), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (senior member), American Society for Engineering Education, Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (president, 1976–82), Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi (president, 1947–48), Sigma Pi Sigma.

AWARDS, HONORS: Citations from Connecticut General Assembly, 1982, 1991.

WRITINGS:

(With Martin J. Buerger) The Powder Method in X-Ray Crystallography, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1958.

Introduction to Solids, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1960, reprinted, R.E. Krieger (Huntington, NY), 1975.

(With James J. Brophy) Electronic Processes in Materials, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1963.

Elements of X-Ray Crystallography, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1968.

(Editor) X-Ray Spectroscopy, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1973.

(With others) X-Ray Diffraction, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1974.

Physics over Easy: Breakfasts with Beth and Physics, World Scientific (River Edge, NJ), 1996.

Contributor of more than 100 articles to scientific journals.

SIDELIGHTS: Leonid V. Azároff told CA: "I enjoy writing because it comes easily, and there is great satisfaction in reading a well-written paragraph and the page that results. My main goal (aside from the personal satisfaction) is to inform my readers about matters that I know fairly well, and that the reader will find interesting, possibly novel, and hopefully entertaining and rewarding.

"After assembling my source materials, I start to write with minimal outlines. I find that my thoughts and ideas 'organize' themselves as I proceed. Although I do some editing afterward, it is usually also minimal. The one rule I follow is to ask knowledgeable people to read and critique my writings. I find such input invaluable in developing a better final product.

"Since retiring from active teaching and physics research, I have considered trying to edify the lay public. Hence my book Physics over Easy: Breakfasts with Beth and Physics, which makes the topic of physics readily comprehensible via breakfast conversations with my wife."