Aldert van der Ziel

Prof. Dr. Aldert van der Ziel, (12 December 1910, Zandeweer – 20 January 1991, Minneapolis), was a Dutch physicist who studied electronic noise processes in materials such as semiconductors and metals.

Aldert van der Ziel was a pioneering researcher into the phenomenon of flicker noise in physical electronics. He published 15 books and more than 500 scientific papers. He was also a writer on Christianity, particularly the relationship between science and religion. Van der Ziel belonged to a conservative Lutheran church.

Van der Ziel obtained a Ph.D. in 1934 from the University of Groningen. He worked at Philips in Eindhoven until 1947. In 1947 he went to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and moved to the University of Minnesota in 1950 to become professor of electrical engineering. He was also associated, later, with the University of Florida at Gainesville.

The IEEE has an award named after Aldert van der Ziel, which is given during the two-yearly International Semiconductor Device Research Symposium (ISDRS) sponsored by the IEEE Electron Devices Society, for "a distinguished career in education and research". Past recipients are Lester Eastmann, Herbert Kroemer (Nobel Prize in Physics winner), Michael Shur, Marvin H. White, James D. Plummer, Ben Streetman and Mark Lundstrom.

• 1956 IEEE Fellow
• 1975 Honorary doctorate, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse
• 1977 National Academy of Engineering
• 1980 IEEE Education Medal
• 1981 Honorary doctorate, University of Eindhoven

• "IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal Recipients" (PDF). IEEE. Retrieved November 23, 2010.