He was born in Paterson, New Jersey and attended Stevens Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. from New York University.
He first worked at Los Alamos National University, discovering the existence of neutrinos while there. He then became the head of the physics department of Case University from 1959 to 1966. He subsequently became the founding dean of the school of physical sciences at the newly opened University of California, Irvine. He worked there until his death.
