Isaac Asimov was born on January 2, 1920 (he chose this date later in life, as he was born between October 4, 1919, and January 2, 1920), in Petrovichi, then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR). He immigrated to the United States with his family in February 1923, and he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1928. Asimov attended the City College of New York, and then Seth Low Junior College until 1936, when he switched to Columbia University. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1939, and he then completed his master's degree in chemistry at Columbia, graduating in 1941. Asimov worked as a civilian chemist at the Philadelphia Navy Yard's Naval Air Experimental Station from 1942 to 1945, and he was inducted into the U.S. Army on November 1, 1945. Pvt Asimov completed Army Service Forces Basic Training in January 1946, and served as an Analytical Chemist with the 9138th Quartermaster Corps at Camp Lee, Virginia, from January 1946 until he was honorably discharged from the Army on July 26, 1946. Ater leaving active duty, Asimov completed his doctorate in chemistry in 1948, and worked for Boston University School of Medicine for many years while also working as a literary writer. Between 1939 and 1992, he wrote or edited more than 500 books on science fiction, mystery and fantasy, popular science, and non-fiction. Isaac Asimov died on April 6, 1992, and and chose to be cremated.