Marshall, Lauriston C. (1902-1980) | University of Illinois Archives

Lauriston C. Marshall (1902-1980) was an American Physicist. Marshall was born to a set of missionaries in Canton, China and grew up in California after his parents returned to the states. He completed a masters and PhD in physics at the University of California at Berkeley. After earning his PhD in 1929, Marshall was awarded with a National Research Council Fellowship to study at Princeton University. In 1931, he was appointed Physicist in the US Department of Agriculture. He used this position to establish a research project on climate-controlled greenhouse gases at the Experimental Research Station in La Jolla, California. In 1937 he returned to Berkeley after he was hired by the Electrical Engineering department. Here he pursued research into microwaves, but the specifics of this project were classified during WWII. Marshall joined the Radiation Laboratory at MIT in 1940.

After returning to Berkeley in 1945, Marshall earned two Guggenheim Awards with Harry Partch, researching microtonal instruments and recording techniques. In 1952 he became the director of research at the Link Belt Company in Indianapolis. In 1961 he directed the Graduate Center at the University of Texas at Dallas. After retiring from this post, he accepted a position as a research professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Marshall died in 1980.