Modern Day - Creation Physicist
Dr Humphreys was born on 2 February 1942 in Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S.A., and was raised in a scientifically aware but non–Christian household. Not surprisingly, Russell himself always had a love for science, and in 1959, he was one of the 40 winners of the Westinghouse National Science Talent Search.
He received a B.S. degree in physics at Duke University, 1959–1963. After this, he moved to Louisiana State University (LSU) to study postgraduate physics. In 1969, while doing his dissertation research for LSU in the mountains of Colorado, he committed his life to Christ. In 1972, he was awarded a Ph.D. in physics, on cosmic rays and ultrahigh energy nucleon–nucleon interactions, by which time he was a fully convinced creationist due to both the biblical and scientific evidence. For the next 6 years he worked in the High Voltage Laboratory of General Electric Company, designing and inventing equipment and researching high–voltage phenomena. While there, he received a U.S. patent and one of Industrial Research Magazine’s IR–100 awards.
Dr Humphreys has been married since 1963, and they have three children.
The last decade at Sandia saw greater emphasis on theoretical nuclear physics and radiation hydrodynamics in an effort to help produce the world’s first lab–scale thermonuclear fusion. Besides gaining two other U.S. patents, Dr Humphreys has been given two awards from Sandia, including an Award for Excellence for contributions to light ion–fusion target theory.
Overall, Dr Humphreys’ reseach has been very wide-ranging:
In August 2008 he resigned from ICR to work for Creation Ministries International (USA) while continuing to be mostly located in New Mexico, continuing his research, plus writing and speaking ministry.
Dr Humphreys has been a longtime member of the Creation Research Society and is on its Board of Directors.
Dr. Russell Humphreys
(The following text was taken from the Creation Ministries International website)He received a B.S. degree in physics at Duke University, 1959–1963. After this, he moved to Louisiana State University (LSU) to study postgraduate physics. In 1969, while doing his dissertation research for LSU in the mountains of Colorado, he committed his life to Christ. In 1972, he was awarded a Ph.D. in physics, on cosmic rays and ultrahigh energy nucleon–nucleon interactions, by which time he was a fully convinced creationist due to both the biblical and scientific evidence. For the next 6 years he worked in the High Voltage Laboratory of General Electric Company, designing and inventing equipment and researching high–voltage phenomena. While there, he received a U.S. patent and one of Industrial Research Magazine’s IR–100 awards.
Dr Humphreys has been married since 1963, and they have three children.
Research
Beginning in 1979 he worked for Sandia National Laboratories (New Mexico) in nuclear physics, geophysics, pulsed-power research, and theoretical atomic and nuclear physics. In 1985, he began working with Sandia’s ‘Particle Beam Fusion Project’, and was co-inventor of special laser-triggered ‘Rimfire’ high-voltage switches, now coming into wider use.The last decade at Sandia saw greater emphasis on theoretical nuclear physics and radiation hydrodynamics in an effort to help produce the world’s first lab–scale thermonuclear fusion. Besides gaining two other U.S. patents, Dr Humphreys has been given two awards from Sandia, including an Award for Excellence for contributions to light ion–fusion target theory.
Overall, Dr Humphreys’ reseach has been very wide-ranging:
- Designed and theoretically analyzed thermonuclear fusion targets using radiation hydrodynamic codes.
- Designed key high-voltage parts of Sandia’s 100-Terawatt Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator II and conducted fusion power experiments on it. Same designs are in use today on Sandia’s Z machine.
- Research on low-temperature solids and studies on superconductors.
- Nuclear weapons projects, including stockpile engineering for W87 firing set.
- Helped design new inkjet printer component and shared patent on it.
- Developed high repetition-rate neutron tube driver and gamma-ray spectrometer for borehole logging applications. Patent on high-voltage power supply for it.
- Patents on wide-bandwidth electric field sensor and high-voltage neutron tube supply. Designed lightning current waveform recorder which won IR-100 Award.
- Studied electric fields and ion currents under ultrahigh voltage DC transmission lines.
- Theoretical studies of relativistic velocity dependence of nuclear forces.
Creationist work full-time
Dr Humphreys retired from Sandia in 2001 to work full-time for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) where he was appointed an Associate Professor of Physics. In this time, he operated mainly from his home office in Albuquerque, NM, USA, while still continuing to write for Journal of Creation (formerly TJ) and assisting several other creationist organisations with questions and information concerning physics, astronomy and cosmology.In August 2008 he resigned from ICR to work for Creation Ministries International (USA) while continuing to be mostly located in New Mexico, continuing his research, plus writing and speaking ministry.
Dr Humphreys has been a longtime member of the Creation Research Society and is on its Board of Directors.
Education
- B.S., Duke University, Durham, NC, 1963
- Ph.D., Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 1972
Honors/Awards/Associations
- Creation Science Fellowship of New Mexico, board member and past President
- Two of Industrial Research Magazine’s IR-100 awards
- Award for Excellence for contributions to light ion-fusion target theory
- Adjunct professor of the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego
- Board member of the Creation Research Society
- Member, American Geophysical Union
Articles written by Dr. Humphreys on this Site
Relativistic CosmologyBooks by Dr. Humphreys
