The Accelerator

Join us at Cornell Cinema on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 for a private screening of The Accelerator, a film about the profound life and impact of Dr. Robert R. Wilson. The film has been featured at multiple film festivals. This is a unique opportunity to see the film and meet the Producer David Raubach behind the project, before its release to the public.

The film features never before seen footage and interviews with Dr. Wilson and the scientists who were impacted by him as well as behind the scenes footage from the Manhattan Project.

Dr. Wilson is recognized throughout the scientific and medical communities for his pioneering work on particle accelerators including the Cornell Synchrotron that bears his name. He played an instrumental role in the Manhattan Project and his time there redirected his scientific career towards what he described as the altruistic side of science. As he directed the construction of FermiLab, the U.S. governments largest nuclear research facility, he was driven by the question — how can science be used for the betterment of mankind?

Dr. Wilson is also known as the “Father of Proton Therapy” in recognition of a paper he published in 1946 describing how proton particles could effectively treat cancer. Proton therapy is now a standard of care at top cancer centers around the world.

Free admission! Sponsored by Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education (CLASSE).

To learn more about the team behind the film and watch the trailer please visit: theacceleratorfilm.com. 

More information about the life and work of Dr. Wilson can found in the obituary published in the Cornell Chronicle upon his passing: "Robert R. Wilson, Cornell physicist and designer of particle accelerators, died Jan. 16 in Ithaca".