From Zurich to Murray Hill

When Frank W. Sinden attended ETH Zurich in the 1950s, he was among the first pioneering group of Americans to study at the university. Today, ETH is an international institution through and through, with 200 students from the US alone, plus another 120-odd nationalities among its talented intake. Back in Sinden’s day, ETH – like the rest of the world – was far less globalised.

But it was still an exciting time to be a student at our university. Sinden’s professors included Paul Scherrer, who in 1954 helped found CERN and would later give his name to the Paul Scherrer Institute, and his doctoral studies were supervised by Eduard Stiefel, who developed one of the first computers in Europe.

Even now, aged 96, Sinden cites his ETH doctorate as the reason he was offered a position at the prestigious Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, where he worked for some 40 years. He remains grateful to his alma mater to this day, which is why he continues to be a loyal benefactor of the ETH Foundation. Thank you very much, Dr Sinden – we appreciate it!