 Before the war , Oppenheimer had spent part of each year teaching at California Institute of Technology ( Caltech ) . Christy was one of Oppenheimer 's Berkeley students who made the trip down to Pasadena , California , each year to continue studying with Oppenheimer . After the war , Oppenheimer decided that with his additional responsibilities he could no longer continue this arrangement . The head of the W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory at Caltech , Charles Lauritsen therefore asked Oppenheimer for the name of a theoretical physicist that he would recommend as a replacement . Oppenheimer recommended Christy . Willy Fowler then approached Christy with an offer of a full @-@ time position at Caltech at $ 5 @,@ 400 per annum , and Christy accepted . He would remain at Caltech for the rest of his academic career . The drawback to working at Caltech was that neither Lauritsen nor Fowler was a theoretical physicist , so a heavy workload fell on Christy . This was recognised by a pay raise to $ 10 @,@ 000 per annum in 1954 . 
