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Edwin Ernest Salpeter ForMemRS was an Austrian–Australian–American astrophysicist. Born to a Jewish family, he emigrated from Austria to Australia while in his teens to escape the Nazis. He attended Sydney Boys High School and Sydney University, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in 1944 and his master's degree in 1945. In the same year he was awarded an overseas scholarship and attended Birmingham University, England, where he earned his doctorate in 1948 under the supervision of Sir Rudolf Peierls. He spent the remainder of his career at Cornell University, where he was most recently the James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor of the Physical Sciences, Emeritus. Salpeter died of leukemia at his home in Ithaca on November 26, 2008.
In 1950 he married Miriam Mark, a neurobiologist born in Riga, Latvia; she was chairwoman of the department of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell from 1982 to 1988. The Society for Neuroscience created the Mika Salpeter award in her memory; it "recognizes an individual with outstanding career achievements in neuroscience who has also significantly promoted the professional advancement of women in neuroscience." The Salpeters had two daughters, Judy Salpeter and Dr. Shelley Salpeter.
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