Lawrence R. Hafstad

Lawrence R. Hafstad
Hafstad in 1967
Born	Lawrence Randolph Hafstad (1904-06-18)June 18, 1904 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	October 12, 1993(1993-10-12) (aged 89) Oldwick, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	University of Minnesota (BSc) Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
Occupations	Nuclear physicist Electrical engineer
Employers	Carnegie Institution for Science Office of Scientific Research and Development Johns Hopkins University Atomic Energy Commission General Motors
Spouse	Katharine Clarke-Hafstad (m. 1933, div. 1939)
Awards	AAAS Prize

Lawrence Randolph Hafstad (June 18, 1904 – October 12, 1993) was an American electrical engineer and physicist notable for his pioneering work on nuclear reactors and development of proximity fuzes. In 1939, he created the first nuclear fission reaction in the United States.

Biography

Hafstad was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the son of two Norwegian immigrants. He attended the University of Minnesota, graduating in electrical engineering in 1926. He had begun working with the Carnegie Institution for Science from 1928. In 1931, he earned the American Association for the Advancement of Science Prize for his research with Merle A. Tuve and Odd Dahl.

He was awarded his Ph.D. in physics at Johns Hopkins University in 1933. Between 1935 and 1939, he was a frequent participant at the Washington Conferences on Theoretical Physics sponsored by George Washington University and Carnegie Institute of Washington. Between 1946 and 1954, he was a professor of physics at Johns Hopkins University. From 1947-1949, he was director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. During that same period, he was executive secretary of the research and development board at the Department of Defense. From 1949 to 1955, he served as director of reactor development with the United States Atomic Energy Commission. In 1955, he became a vice president at the General Motors Corporation and was chief of its research laboratories. In 1968, Hafstad was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Hafstad died on October 12, 1993, at his home in the Oldwick section of Tewksbury Township, New Jersey.

Honors and awards

• Medal of Merit of the United States Navy (1946)
• King's Medal in Defense of Freedom of the British Government (1946)

External links

• Merle Tuve, Lawrence Hafstad, and Odd Dahl with a cloud chamber for high voltage work in 1931

Related Reading

• Castell, Lutz; Otfried Ischebeck (2013) Time, Quantum and Information (Springer Science & Business Media)
• Dahl, Per F. (2002) From Nuclear Transmutation to Nuclear Fission, 1932-1939 (CRC Press)
• Fernandez, Bernard; Georges Ripka (2012) Unravelling the Mystery of the Atomic Nucleus (Springer Science & Business Media)
• Mehra, Jagdish (2004) The Conceptual Completion and Extensions of Quantum Mechanics 1932-1941 (Springer Science & Business Media)