1982 President Robert P. Madden received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Rochester, U.S. and his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University, U.S. He was a physicist with the U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Laboratories (AERDL) from 1958-1961.

During the end of his tenure at AERDL, Madden was asked to join the National Bureau of Standards to develop its vacuum ultraviolet radiometric standards program. He was a principal scientist of the far-ultraviolet physics group and directed the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility II. With fellow researcher Keith Codling Madden conducted many experiments to characterize the radiation obtained from the synchrotron using both photographic and photoelectric techniques. To perform spectroscopy research, Madden and Codling built their own spectrometer which was focused to 0.002 of an inch and remained in place for more than two decades. It achieved 0.06-angstrom resolution.

A member Society since 1958, Madden was named a Fellow in 1964 and received the William F. Meggers Award in 1978. Madden was also a fellow of the American Physical Society and the recipient of the NBS Silver Metal (1964) and Stratton Award (1970).  He was inducted into the NIST Gallery of Distinguished Scientists, Engineers and Administrators in 2000.

Madden died in 2014.