Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement
Biographical Note
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1912, Apr. 19 | Born, Ishpeming, Mich. |
| 1934 | A.B., University of California, Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 1937 | Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1940-1974 | Codiscovered numerous atomic elements including plutonium (1940), curium (1944), americium (1944-1945), berkelium (1949), californium (1950), eisensteinium (1952), fermium (1953), mendelevium (1955), nobelium (1958), and seaborgium (1974) |
| 1941-1971 | Assistant professor and professor, Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1942-1946 | Section chief in charge of plutonium chemistry, Manhattan Project, Metallurgical Laboratory, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill. |
| 1944 | Developed the actinide concept of heavy element electronic structure |
| 1945 | Signed report written by James Franck urging the United States not to drop the atomic bomb on Japan Inadvertently announced the recent discovery of two new chemical elements on “Quiz Kids” radio program |
| 1946-1950 | Member, General Advisory Committee, Atomic Energy Commission |
| 1950-1955 | Consultant, Technical Advisory Panel on Atomic Energy, Defense Department Research and Development Board |
| 1951 | Awarded with Edwin M. McMillan Nobel Prize in chemistry for the discovery of plutonium |
| 1953-1958 | Faculty athletic representative, Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Athletic Conference |
| 1954-1961 | Associate director, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1957 | Published with Joseph J. Katz The Chemistry of the Actinide Elements (New York: John Wiley and Sons. 508 pp.) |
| 1958-1961 | Chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1959-1961 | Member, President's Science Advisory Committee |
| 1959-1974 | Chairman, Chemical Education Material (CHEMStudy) Steering Committee |
| 1960-1961 | Member, National Science Board, National Science Foundation |
| 1961-1971 | Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission |
| 1963 | Chairman, United States delegation for signing the “Memorandum on Cooperation in the Field of Utilization of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes,” Moscow, USSR Member, United States delegation for signing the Limited Test Ban Treaty, Moscow, USSR |
| 1964 | Chairman, United States delegation, Third United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Geneva, Switzerland |
| 1971 | Appointed university professor, Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. President, Fourth United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy, Geneva, Switzerland Published with William R. Corliss Man and Atom: Building a New World through Nuclear Technology (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. 411 pp.) |
| 1972 | President, American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| 1976 | President, American Chemical Society |
| 1981 | Published with Benjamin S. Loeb Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Test Ban (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. 320 pp.) |
| 1981-1983 | Member, National Commission on Excellence in Education |
| 1982-1998 | Cofounder, director, and chairman, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. |
| 1987 | Published with Benjamin S. Loeb Stemming the Tide: Arms Control in the Johnson Years (Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books. 495 pp.) |
| 1993 | Published with Benjamin S. Loeb The Atomic Energy Commission under Nixon: Adjusting to Troubled Times (New York: St. Martin's Press. 268 pp.) |
| 1994 | International Union of Pure and Applied Chemisty approved the name “seaborgium” for atomic element 106 |
| 1998 | Published A Chemist in the White House: From the Manhattan Project to the End of the Cold War (Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. 341 pp.) |
| 1999, Feb. 25 | Died, Lafayette, Calif. |