Robert B. Duffield (October 15, 1917 – December 26, 2000) was an American radiochemist who worked as part of the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project ...
and was director of the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facility is located in Lemont, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and is the larg ...
. His main areas of research focused on radioactivity and photonuclear reaction.
Born in
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.Asbury Park High School
Asbury Park High School is a comprehensive, four-year community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades. It is in a landmark building in Asbury Park, in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, that was construc ...
Princeton Alumni Weekly
The ''Princeton Alumni Weekly'' (''PAW'') is a magazine published for the alumni of Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jer ...
''. Accessed August 31, 2020. "Bob died at his home in Norwood, Colo., on Dec. 26, 2000, after a brief illness with acute leukemia. He prepared at Asbury Park H.S. At Princeton, he majored in chemistry, graduated with highest honors, winning membership in
Sigma Xi
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 1886 ...
and
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...
." He graduated from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...
in 1940 with an undergraduate degree in chemistry and was granted a Ph.D. from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
American Institute of Physics
The American Institute of Physics (AIP) promotes science and the profession of physics, publishes physics journals, and produces publications for scientific and engineering societies. The AIP is made up of various member societies. Its corpora ...
.Accessed August 31, 2020.
After working from 1943 to 1946 as part of the
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project ...
at
Los Alamos Laboratory
The Los Alamos Laboratory, also known as Project Y, was a secret laboratory established by the Manhattan Project and operated by the University of California during World War II. Its mission was to design and build the first atomic bombs. R ...
, he was hired as an associate professor at the
University of Illinois
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Universi ...
and was on the school's faculty for the next decade. From 1956 to 1967, Duffield was employed by
General Atomics
General Atomics is an American energy and defense corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, specializing in research and technology development. This includes physics research in support of nuclear fission and nuclear fusion energy. Th ...
as the Assistant Director of the John Jay Hopkins Laboratory of Pure and Applied Science. In 1967, he was appointed to serve as director of the
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research national laboratory operated by UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facility is located in Lemont, Illinois, outside of Chicago, and is the larg ...
Chemical & Engineering News
''Chemical & Engineering News'' (''C&EN'') is a weekly news magazine published by the American Chemical Society, providing professional and technical news and analysis in the fields of chemistry and chemical engineering. He remained in that position until 1972 when he became a researcher at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, in ...
, where he focused on potential alternative energy options.
Duffield died of
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
at his home in
Norwood, Colorado
Norwood is a Statutory Town in San Miguel County, Colorado, United States. The population was 518 at the 2010 census.
A post office called Norwood has been in operation since 1887. The community was named after Norwood, Missouri, the native ...