List of Cornell Manhattan Project people
Encyclopedia
Scientists from Cornell University
played a major role in developing the technology that resulted in the first atomic bombs used in World War II. In turn, Cornell Physics professor Hans Bethe used the project as an opportunity to recruit young scientists to join the Cornell faculty after the war. The following people worked on the Manhattan Project
primarily in Los Alamos, New Mexico
during World War II
and either studied or taught at Cornell University
before or after the War:
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
played a major role in developing the technology that resulted in the first atomic bombs used in World War II. In turn, Cornell Physics professor Hans Bethe used the project as an opportunity to recruit young scientists to join the Cornell faculty after the war. The following people worked on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
primarily in Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and either studied or taught at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
before or after the War:
- Robert Fox BacherRobert BacherRobert Fox Bacher was an American nuclear physicist and one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project.-Early life and career:...
- headed the experimental physics division, Cornell Physics professor from 1935 until the War - Manson BenedictManson BenedictManson Benedict was an American nuclear engineer and a professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . From 1958 to 1968, he was the chairman of the advisory committee to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.-Biography:Born in Lake Linden, Michigan, Benedict received a...
- developed the gaseous diffusion method for separating the isotopes of uranium and supervised the engineering and process development of the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where fissionable material for the atomic bomb was produced - Hans BetheHans BetheHans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
- director of the theoretical division - Gertrude BlanchGertrude BlanchGertrude Blanch was an American mathematician who did pioneering work in numerical analysis and computation.Blanch was born Gittel Kaimowitz in Kolno, Russia , arrived in the United States as a child, and attended public schools in New York City. She spent fourteen years as a clerk, saving money...
- oversaw calculations for the Manhattan Project - Oswald C. Brewster - Cornell class of 1918, project engineer who wrote to senior government officials warning about the potential of atomic bombs ending civilization.
- Walter S. Carpenter, Jr.Walter S. Carpenter, Jr.Walter Samuel Carpenter, Jr. was an American corporate executive from Wilmington, Delaware who oversaw the DuPont company's involvement in the Manhattan Project to produce an atomic bomb for use during World War II...
- oversaw the DuPont company's involvement in the Manhattan Project - Frederick J. ClarkeFrederick J. ClarkeFrederick James Clarke was a civil and military engineer with the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Clarke was one of three commissioners appointed to run the District of Columbia from 1960 to 1963, and later rose to the rank of Chief of Engineers in the Corps of Engineers.Clark was born in...
- master's degree in civil engineering from Cornell University in 1940 - Dale R. CorsonDale R. CorsonDale R. Corson was the eighth president of Cornell University. Born in Pittsburg, Kansas, in 1914, Corson received a B.A. degree from the College of Emporia in 1934, his M.A. degree from the University of Kansas in 1935, and his Ph.D...
- later became President of Cornell - Jean Klein Dayton - helped design detonation systems
- John W. DeWire - Cornell physics faculty
- Richard DavissonRichard DavissonProfessor Richard Joseph "Dick" Davisson was an American physicist.Davisson was the son of Clinton Davisson, a Nobel laureate, and his wife Charlotte. His maternal uncle, Sir Owen Richardson, was also a Nobel laureate.During World War II he worked on the Manhattan Project as part of the Special...
- worked in Special Engineer Detachment - Eleanor & Richard Ehrlich
- Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
- team leader under Bethe, later taught Physics at Cornell - Kenneth Greisen - worked on instrumentation, later Cornell Physics faculty
- Lottie Grieff
- William HiginbothamWilliam HiginbothamWilliam A. Higginbotham , an American physicist, is credited with creating one of the first computer games, Tennis for Two. Like Pong, it is a portrait of a game of tennis or ping-pong, but featured very different game mechanics that have no resemblance to the later game...
- headed the electronics group - Henry Hurwitz, Jr.Henry Hurwitz, Jr.Henry Hurwitz, Jr. , was a physicist at General Electric Company who pioneered the theory and design of nuclear power plants and helped engineer the reactor for the Seawolf nuclear submarine.-Biography:...
- Cornell class of 1938 - Walter KauzmannWalter KauzmannWalter J. Kauzmann was an American chemist and professor emeritus of Princeton University. He was noted for his work in both physical chemistry and biochemistry. His most important contribution was recognizing that the hydrophobic effect plays a key role in determining the three-dimensional...
- in charge of producing the detonator for the Trinity test - Margaret Ramsey Keck
- Giovanni Rossi LomanitzGiovanni Rossi LomanitzRoss Lomanitz was an American physicist.He was born in Bryan, Texas and grew up in Oklahoma. His father was an agricultural chemist and named his son after the Italian socialist Giovanni Rossi, who had founded an agricultural commune in Brazil in the 1890s...
- worked at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory; doctorate in theoretical physics from Cornell University, where he was the first graduate student of Richard Feynman. - Robert MarshakRobert MarshakRobert Eugene Marshak was an American physicist dedicated to learning, research, and education.-History:...
- PhD from Cornell University in 1939 - Boyce McDanielBoyce McDanielBoyce Dawkins McDaniel was an American nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project and later directed the Cornell University Laboratory of Nuclear Studies . McDaniel was skilled in constructing "atom smashing" devices to study the fundamental structure of matter and helped to build the...
- later became director of Cornell's Laboratory of Nuclear Studies - William T. MillerWilliam T. MillerWilliam T. Miller was a professor of organic chemistry at Cornell University. His experimental research included investigations into the mechanism of addition of halogens, especially fluorine, to hydrocarbons...
- developed the chlorofluorocarbon polymer used in the first gaseous diffusion plant for the separation of uranium isotopes, Cornell chemistry faculty, 1936 - 1977 - Elliott Waters MontrollElliott Waters MontrollElliott Waters Montroll was an American scientist and mathematician.-Education:...
- Head of the Mathematics Research Group at the Kellex Corporation in New York, working on programs associated with the Manhattan Project. - Philip MorrisonPhilip MorrisonPhilip Morrison, was Institute Professor Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .-Early life and education:...
- Cornell physics faculty 1946 - 1964. - Kenneth NicholsKenneth NicholsKenneth David "Nick" Nichols was a United States Army officer and an engineer. He worked on the Manhattan Project which developed the Atomic Bomb during World War II as Deputy District Engineer and then District Engineer of the Manhattan Engineer District...
- deputy to General Leslie GrovesLeslie GrovesLieutenant General Leslie Richard Groves, Jr. was a United States Army Corps of Engineers officer who oversaw the construction of the Pentagon and directed the Manhattan Project that developed the atomic bomb during World War II. As the son of a United States Army chaplain, Groves lived at a...
, ME from Cornell - Paul OlumPaul OlumPaul Olum was an American mathematician and university administrator.-Early years:Born in Binghamton, New York to a father who was a Russian Jew who immigrated at age of nine to escape persecution, Olum took an interest in mathematics at an early age. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard...
- later became President of the University of OregonUniversity of Oregon-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :... - Lyman G. Parrett - Cornell physics faculty
- Edith Hinkley Quimby
- Marcia White Rosenthal
- Bruno RossiBruno RossiBruno Benedetto Rossi was a leading Italian-American experimental physicist. He made major contributions to cosmic ray and particle physics from 1930 through the 1950s, and pioneered X-ray astronomy and space plasma physics in the 1960s.-Biography:Rossi was born in Venice, Italy...
- co-director of the Detector Group, Cornell physics faculty 1942-1946 - LaRoy Thompson - Cornell class of 1942, physically assembled the first bomb and flew the practice bombing run at Bikini Island. Later, senior vice president and treasurer of the University of RochesterUniversity of RochesterThe University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
- Robert R. WilsonRobert R. WilsonRobert Rathbun Wilson was an American physicist who was a group leader of the Manhattan Project, a sculptor, and an architect of Fermi National Laboratory , where he was also the director from 1967–1978....
- head of the Cyclotron Group (R-1) - William M. Woodward - Cornell physics faculty