Joseph W. Kennedy

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Joseph William Kennedy

Joseph William Kennedy
Born May 30, 1916
Nacogdoches, Texas
Died May 5, 1957(1957-05-05) (aged 40)
Nationality American
Institutions Los Alamos National Laboratory
Washington University in St. Louis
Alma mater University of California, Berkeley
Known for plutonium

Joseph William Kennedy (May 30, 1916 – May 5, 1957) was an American scientist credited with being a co-discoverer of plutonium along with Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin McMillan, and Arthur Wahl.

Born in Nacogdoches, Texas, Kennedy attended Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College, the University of Kansas, and received his PhD at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1943, he arrived at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and aided in the discovery, purification, and handling of plutonium.

In 1945, Kennedy was recruited as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and was installed as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry, a role he continued in until his death. Kennedy brought with him Wahl, Lindsay Helmholz, David Lipkin, Herbert Potratz, and Samuel Weissman, who all served on the faculty at Washington University.[1]

Kennedy died at the age of 40 after a battle with cancer, only two years after Seaborg, McMillan, Wahl, and he received a prize of $400,000 dollars for their scientific work.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Wahl, professor who discovered plutonium; 89". Washington University Record, Vol 30(31). Retrieved on July 9, 2009

[edit] External links


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