The First Class of Fulbrighters - Fulbright-Kommission

A New Perspective
by James E. Turner
GOING TO GERMANY as a Fulbright student to
study theoretical physics in Göttingen in 1953-54 was the
dream of a lifetime. In the mid-1920s this beautiful city
was the birthplace of modern quantum theory, which has so
profoundly revolutionized physics and contemporary life. At
the university in Göttingen, I attended lectures given by,
Heisenberg himself, whose signature I proudly have in my
Studienbuch today.
From the start, and all during the
Fulbright year, I felt welcome wherever
I was. The professors and students
at the university were considerate and
helpful. I was very fortunate to find
(with great difficulty) a room with one
special German family. (Housing in Germany was extremely
scarce in 1953. One of the first practical German expressions
I learned after arriving in Göttingen was “schon besetzt!” 1 ) The
family comprised the parents and three sons about my age
and somewhat younger. They took me in and came to treat
me like a fourth son. I stayed in touch with my landlady
through numerous trips back to Germany until her death
some years ago, and I still have contact with one son in the
U. S. Spending the year with that family meant a great deal.
My best friend in Göttingen was fellow Fulbright student
Jack Waldrip. Jack arranged a blind date for me. I
went to the students’ Faschingball 2 with a visiting German
girl—a friend of a friend from out of town. My date and I,
of course, had no idea that we were meeting our future life
partners. In the ensuing months, Renate and I fell in love, I
met her family, and we hoped to get married. I had no money
or other resources, nor did she, but we made plans. After
the Fulbright year, I would return to Vanderbilt, where I
had started as a graduate student. Renate would apply for
an immigration visa to the U.S.
AFTER I LEFT GERMANY to return home we were
separated for 14 long months. Back then there was no telephoning
overseas and mail was very slow. When her papers
were finally approved, Renate arrived in New York in October
of 1955. We got married soon thereafter, a year before I
finished my degree at Vanderbilt. We have raised three kids
and will celebrate our 48th anniversary this year.
Incidentally, Jack Waldrip (who had introduced Renate
and me) and I lost contact after we left Göttingen and were
unable to locate one another in subsequent years. It was
only recently through the activities of the Fulbright Commission
in the celebration of the 50th anniversary that we
located each other again. We met last December for the first
time in more than 48 years and took up right where we left
off. We thank Bettina Ross from the Fulbright Secretariat
for her help!
I learned a lot about America
in that year, especially in
ways that would not have
occured to me otherwise.
1) Already occupied! 2) One of a number of pre-Lenten festivities in Catholic parts of Germany
AS I LOOK BACK, I can recall an unexpected benefit
that the Fulbright year had for me and likely for most of us
students. I learned a lot about America, especially in ways
that would not have occurred to me otherwise. I formed a
different perspective on relationships between people with
different cultures, languages, and values. I remember how
the German audience laughed at newsreel pictures of the
1953 Army-Navy football game.
Well, it looked silly. But some of our
folks take the game seriously. I mention
that experience only as a single,
trivial example of something that I
gave little consideration to before.
Things of importance and even deep
concern in one country can be unknown or completely
immaterial in another. It is not a matter of one being better
than another, but of respect, understanding, and tolerance. I
am not offering any great insight by relating what, of
course, is so obvious; as a Fulbright student living in a foreign
country for the first time this was new to me.
THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIP also enabled
me to learn German, which has been a significant professional
and personal asset. Together, Renate and I have translated
translated two German textbooks
on radiation and its
effects. My grandfather emigrated
from Hüttenbusch, near Bremen,
to Savannah, Georgia, in
1865 at the age of 17. He was
never able to return to Germany.
My being able to speak the language
greatly facilitated finding
the descendents of my grandfather’s
sister, still living on the
farm that he left. The family living
there now has a picture of
their great-great grandparents
which is the same picture my
mother had in Savannah of her
grandparents. Our relationship
has thus been established definitely
as second cousins once
removed. We have had several
family members from Hüttenbusch
visit us in Oak Ridge.
What does being a part of
the first German Fulbright class
of ‘53 mean to me? As it has
turned out, … almost everything.
I am a very grateful member
of the Fulbright alumni.
30 31
James (Jim) Turner grew up in
Savannah, Georgia. He went to
Emory, Harvard, Universität
Göttingen (Fulbright), and Vanderbilt,
where he obtained a Ph.D. in
physics in 1956. He taught at Yale
before going to the Atomic Energy
Commission in Washington. In 1962
Turner joined Oak Ridge National
Laboratory and retired as a Corporate
Fellow in 1996. He also served
as an Adjunct Professor at the University
of Tennessee. He has published
extensively in the field of radiation
physics and has had an active role in
research and teaching, both nationally
and internationally. He is the
author of three textbooks.