University of Denver (BA) University of Chicago (MS, PhD)
Known for
Succeeded Norris Bradbury as director at Los Alamos
Awards
E. O. Lawrence Award (1966) Enrico Fermi Award (1978)
Scientific career
Fields
Physics
Institutions
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Thesis
The Beta-spectra of Cesium-137, Yttrium-91, Chlorine-147, Ruthenium-106, Samarium-151, Phosphorus-32, and Thulium-170(1949)
Doctoral advisor
Enrico Fermi
Harold Melvin Agnew (March 28, 1921 – September 29, 2013) was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.[1]
Agnew joined the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago in 1942, and helped build Chicago Pile-1, the world's first nuclear reactor. In 1943, he joined the Los Alamos Laboratory, where he worked with the Cockcroft–Walton generator. After the war ended, he returned to the University of Chicago, where he completed his graduate work under Enrico Fermi.[2]
Agnew returned to Los Alamos in 1949, and worked on the Castle Bravo nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in 1954. He became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964. He also served as a Democratic New Mexico State Senator from 1955 to 1961, and was the Scientific Adviser to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) from 1961 to 1964. He was director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1970 to 1979, when he resigned to become President and Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics. He died at his home in Solana Beach, California, on September 29, 2013.[3]
^"Harold Agnew". Atomic Heritage Foundation. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^"Harold Agnew with the Plutonium Core | Photographs | Media Gallery". www.atomicarchive.com. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
^Press, William H. (November 26, 2013). "Harold Agnew, physicist, atomic bomb Everyman". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (48): 19179–19180. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11019179P. doi:10.1073/pnas.1319623110. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3845108. PMID 24248340.
Harold Melvin Agnew (March 28, 1921 – September 29, 2013) was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima...
retired as director of Los Alamos Laboratory in 1970. His successor, HaroldAgnew, invited him to become a senior consultant, but Bradbury declined the...
of the bomb on the Japanese. Data had been collected by Luis Alvarez, HaroldAgnew, and Lawrence H. Johnston on the instrument plane, The Great Artiste...
B-29 Superfortress that also carried fellow Project Alberta members HaroldAgnew and Deak Parsons (who were respectively commissioned at the rank of captain)...
members of Project Alberta flew on the Hiroshima mission. Luis Alvarez, HaroldAgnew and Lawrence H. Johnston were on the instrument plane The Great Artiste...
it was sold to a company owned by Neal Blue and Linden Blue. In 1979, HaroldAgnew was appointed President and CEO of the company. In 1987, former US Navy...
hands on the weapons can't use them without proper authorization. — HaroldAgnew, former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory In November 2007,...
Academic advisors Luigi Puccianti Max Born Paul Ehrenfest Doctoral students HaroldAgnew Edoardo Amaldi Owen Chamberlain Geoffrey Chew Mildred Dresselhaus Jerome...
billion. J. Robert Oppenheimer (1942–1945) Norris Bradbury (1945–1970) HaroldAgnew (1970–1979) Donald Kerr (1979–1986) Siegfried S. Hecker (1986–1997) John...
Project Alberta observers aboard for Hiroshima mission: Luis Alvarez HaroldAgnew Lawrence H. Johnston Ground crew: Chester V. Pawlack Charles B. Rinard...
there were two lines of investigation into nuclear reactor technology: Harold Urey researched heavy water at Columbia, while Arthur Compton organized...
Chairman) Herbert Agar (writer, editor of The Louisville Courier-Journal) HaroldAgnew (physicist, director of Los Alamos National Laboratory) Umberto Agnelli...
1919 – Vic Raschi, American baseball player and coach (d. 1988) 1921 – HaroldAgnew, American physicist and academic (d. 2013) 1921 – Dirk Bogarde, English...
raised elsewhere who have lived in Denver as adults are marked with a #. HaroldAgnew (1921–2013), physicist Hal Anger (1920–2005), electrical engineer, biophysicist...
Charles Townes, Nobel winner as the co-inventor of the maser and laser, HaroldAgnew, former director of LANL, and chaired by Edward Frieman, vice president...
the Ivy Mike test, Wallace Leland and HaroldAgnew put a shark in Holloway's bed. "He never said anything," Agnew recalled, "but after that he was much...
herpetologist known for popular field guides (born 1915). 26 September – HaroldAgnew, American physicist, worked on the Manhattan Project (born 1921). 2 October...
2012 – Malcolm Wicks, English academic and politician (b. 1947) 2013 – HaroldAgnew, American physicist and engineer (b. 1921) 2013 – S. N. Goenka, Indian...
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