Kerst, Donald William
Kerst, Donald William (1911-1993), a United States physicist. In 1940 he constructed the first betatron, an instrument used as a source of high-speed electrons for cancer treatment and nuclear research. Kerst was born in Galena, Illinois. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin in 1937. From 1938 to 1953 he was on the University of Illinois faculty, except while on leave during World War II working on the atom bomb project. Kerst was technical director of the Midwestern Universities Research Association, 1953-57. He then worked for the atomic division of the General Dynamics Corporation. He was a professor of physics at the University of Wisconsin, 1962-80.