J Robert Oppenheimer was born in New York City in 1904. Precocious and from a well-to-do family, Oppenheimer attended Harvard University and graduated summa cum laude in 1925. He immediately began graduate work in Europe, first studying at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, and then completing his Ph. D. at the University of Gottingen in Germany in 1927. As early as age 23, he was acquiring a reputation as a young theoretical talent, studying under renowned physicist Max Born.
Between 1927 and 1929 he studied at Harvard, Caltech, and the Universities of Leiden, Utrecht and Zurich. He eventually settled at UC Berkeley, holding a teaching appointment from 1929-42. In November 1940, Oppenheimer married Katherine Puening Harrison ("Kitty"), with whom he had two children, Peter, and Katherine.
 In May of 1942, within a year of the United States' entry into World War II, Openheimer became coordinator of fast neutron research for the S-1 project to develop the atomic bomb, which acquired the code name "Manhattan Engineer District." By the end of the year, this project fell under the supervision of Army General Leslie R. Groves, who in November 1942 selected Oppenheimer as scientific/laboratory director. Within a year, Groves and Oppenheimer had chosen a site in New Mexico and recruited scientists from the best universities in the United States. He ran the Manhattan Project with a consensual yet charismatic style that drew disparate scientific egos together. On October 15, 1945, Oppenheimer resigned, after successful development of the atomic bomb and the conclusion of World War II.
In 1946, Oppenheimer was principal author of the Acheson-Lilienthal proposal to internationalize control of atomic energy, introduced at the United Nations General Assembly by Bernard Baruch, and in 1946-47 he served as adviser to the U.S. representative to the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission. In 1947 he was appointed director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. and from 1947-1952 he also served as chairman of the General Advisory Committee of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission 1947-52. Oppenheimer advised many other government advisory bodies during this time, but he came under attack for his views urging restraint in the arms race.
Oppenheimer's clearance for access to classified nuclear data was suspended on Dec. 23, 1953, and a secret hearing was held in Washington by a special Personnel Security Board of AEC from April 12 to May 6, 1954. On June 29 the AEC Commissioners, by a vote of 4-1, upheld the decision that his security clearance not be restored, thereby ending Oppenheimer's career as a government adviser. He remained director of the Institute for Advanced Study and a revered figure on the international cultural scene. He died of throat cancer in Princeton on Feb. 18, 1967.
― Rich Cowan |
