Max Reiss

Born:	06-23-1903
Faculty:	Philosophical School
Category:	Expelled teacher

Dr. Max REISS (b. June 23rd, 1903 in Vienna to Ignacz Reiss and Sidonia Reiss, née Freund) was a post-doc assistant scientist ("Assistant II. Klasse") at the 3rd institute of physics (head: Prof. Felix Ehrenhaft at the Philosophical School of the University of Vienna. On March 25^th, 1938 he was not allowed to give the obligatory oath to the "Fuehrer" for racist reason as he was regarded as a Jew (although roman-catholic since October 3^rd, 1931) followed by immediate discharge, backdated to March 15^th, 1938 - as well as the head of the institute and his colleagues Alfred Lustig and Gerhart Groetzinger. He had graduated from high school (" Reifepruefung/Matura ") in 1922 at "Bundesrealgymnasium" in Vienna's 2^nd district and then studied physics at Technical University of Vienna (for one term) and physics, mathematics and philosophy at University of Vienna and had graduated in May 1927 (" Dr. phil. ") with his thesis " Die Beweglichkeit von Tröpfchen hoher Dichte der Radiengrößen bis I. 10^-5 cm und deren elektrische Ladungen. II. Protokolle der Messungen. III. Bemerkungen zu der Arbeit von J. Mattauch: ' Zur Frage nach der Existenz von Subelektronen ' " (adviser: Prof. Felix Ehrenhaft). On July 1^st, 1927 he became a post-doc scientist (" wissenschaftliche Hilfskraft ") at the 3^rd institute of physics (head: Prof. Felix Ehrenhaft) at the University of Vienna, following Guido Beck, and with the salary of a single extraordinary assistant teacher and was prolongated twice until 1930. From October 1930 to 1934 he became an extraordinare assistant (" a.o. Assistent "), and from October 1934 till September 1936 as assistant 2^nd class ("Assistent II. Klasse"), prolongated in 1936 until end of September 1938.
In 1935 Prof. Albert Einstein/Princeton University recommended him as best lecturer for the English lectures on natural sciences at Vienna Summer School of AAIE|Austro-American Institute of Education. In the ten years of collaboration at the institute he was essential in research and lecturing and published several acknowledged scientific articles. After the " Anschluss " he was forced to leave the university and had to flee Vienna. He had married Hilde Wang (b. 1916) in mid 1937 and they lived in Vienna's 4^th district, Blechturmgasse 12. He succeeded to get a visa for the USA on July 22nd 1938 and they got a passage for the SS Aquitania and took the ship on July 27^th 1938 from Cherbourg/France and arrived in New York on August 2^nd, 1938. Max Reiss lived with his wife and his unemployed brother Rudolph (electrician, b. 1895) in Rochester, Monroe County/New York and worked at Eastman Kodak Company since 1939 where he could continue with his research from Vienna on photophoresis and worked on lens design and developed the theory of off-axis illumination in the camera image. He stayed as optical designer in the Apparatus and Optical Division of Kodak until his retirement in the end of December 1968. He died on September 12^th, 2004 – aged 101 – in Andover, Massachusetts/USA.

Lit.: Archive of the University of Vienna, personnel file, register and file of final examination (" Rigorosenprotokoll und -akt ") PHIL 9511; personnel rooster University of Vienna 1937/38, 116; FLECK/ZEILINGER 2003, 40f.; Herrmann Weissgaerber, You Can't Copy Tradition: A View on the Eventful History and Bilateral Work of the Austro-American Institute of Education from 1926-2016, Vol. 1, 2016, 108-111; Journal of the Optical Society of America, Vol 59 (1969), 4, p. 468; www.libertyellisfoundation.org.

Herbert Posch