February 28, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nobel Laureate Glenn Seaborg Dies
On February 25, 1999, Dr. Glenn Theodore Seaborg
died. He was 86. Dr. Seaborg, one of the great nuclear chemists
of the 20th century, won the Nobel Prize in 1951
for his discovery and chemical analysis of the transuranium
elements (the elements heavier than uranium). He and co-workers
also discovered plutonium-238 and -239 in Gilman Hall
at UC Berkeley. That building was declared a National Historic
Landmark in 1966. Dr. Seaborg made significant contributions
to the periodic table of elements. He also helped produce
many lighter isotopes that have had practical applications
in research, medicine and industry. In 1991, he received
the National Medal of Science, America's highest award
for scientific achievement.
In 1997, Dr. Seaborg was "immortalized"
by having the element 106 named after him. He responded, "It's a
great honor because it lasts forever. One hundred years from
now, or one thousand years from now, it will still
be seaborgium." He performed much of his valued research
at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. He
and his co-workers named the elements 97 and 98 respectively
berkelium and californium.
Born on April 19, 1912, Glenn Seaborg
received an A.B. from UCLA in 1934 and a Ph.D. in chemistry
from UC Berkeley in 1937. He joined the faculty at UC Berkeley
in 1939 but left in 1942 to work on the Manhattan project. When
the atomic bomb was near completion, he wrote to President
Harry Truman asking him to deter dropping it on Japan. In 1946, he
returned to Berkeley and began work that produced one new element
after another, a truly great scientific achievement when
one realizes that he and his co-workers were making new
forms of matter. In 1961, President Kennedy appointed Dr. Seaborg
the chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, a position he
held for ten years. He served as advisors to ten
presidents, from Roosevelt to Bush, and supported the
non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Dr. Seaborg has been honored by dozens
of scientific awards, has published more than 500 research
articles, holds more than 40 patents including those on
americium and curium (which makes him the only person to
hold a patent on an element), has written more than 10 books, has
mentored over 65 Ph.D. graduate students, and is the father
of 6 children. A strong advocate of science education, he
book The Bible According to Einstein
saying "This imaginative book traces the history of the
universe and humankind, seen through the eyes of science
and told in the language of faith. Ultimately, it provides
a marvelous opportunity to learn a lot of science and enjoy it."
That book is the first attempt to enlighten the general public
about nature and science using simple, literary and narrative language.
With the passing of Glenn Seaborg, the
world has lost a superb educator, a devoted public
servant and a great scientist.
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