William E. Wallace

As many prominent scientists of his era, he worked on the Manhattan Project during the Second World War, but he returned to the University of Pittsburgh as a faculty member in 1945.

Wallace's research spanned many fields, including measurements of low temperature specific heat, investigation of magnetic and superconducting materials, and metal hydrides.

Wallace's main scientific interest was the synthesis and characterization of intermetallic compounds of the rare earths, which include the Lanthanide elements of the periodic table.

For this research he assembled a huge team of graduate students and post doctoral associates from many countries, including Argentina, Egypt, India, Japan, Romania, Russia, and China.

He is credited, along with scientists from Bell Laboratories (among whom was Jack Wernick), with the discovery of the powerful rare-earth permanent magnets that are used extensively in permanent-magnet motors today.