 Rabi chaired Columbia 's physics department from 1945 to 1949 , during which time it was home to two Nobel laureates ( Rabi and Enrico Fermi ) and eleven future laureates , including seven faculty ( Polykarp Kusch , Willis Lamb , Maria Goeppert @-@ Mayer , James Rainwater , Norman Ramsey , Charles Townes and Hideki Yukawa ) , a research scientist ( Aage Bohr ) , a visiting professor ( Hans Bethe ) , a doctoral student ( Leon Lederman ) and an undergraduate ( Leon Cooper ) . Martin L. Perl , a doctoral student of Rabi 's , won the Nobel Prize in 1995 . When Columbia created the rank of University Professor in 1964 , Rabi was the first to receive such a chair . This meant that he was free to research or teach whatever he chose . He retired from teaching in 1967 but remained active in the department and held the title of University Professor Emeritus until his death . A special chair was named after him in 1985 . 
