Siegfried S. Hecker (born October 2, 1943) is an American
metallurgist
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
and
nuclear scientist
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...
. He served as Director of 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, ...
from 1986 to 1997 and is now affiliated with
Stanford University, where he is research professor emeritus in the Department of Management Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering, and senior fellow emeritus at the
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
.
During this time, he was also elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
(1988) for outstanding research on plutonium and the forming of materials, and for leadership in developing energy and weapons systems.
Biography
Early life
Hecker's parents came from
Sarajevo
Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...
,
Bosnia and were moved during World War II to
Tomaszew,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, where Hecker was born.
When his father had not returned from the war at the
Eastern Front, his mother remarried and settled in
Rottenmann
Rottenmann (Central Bavarian: ''Rottnmau'') is a town in Styria in Austria, near the Rottenmanner Tauern. Rottenmann was first referred to in a document in 927. It received its town charter in 1279 from King Rudolf von Habsburg.
Name
The name ' ...
, Austria.
[ The family emigrated from Styria to the US in 1956.
]
Education
Hecker completed his Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
in Metallurgy in 1965, his Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
in Metallurgy in 1967, and his Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in Metallurgical Engineering
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys.
Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...
in 1968, all from Case Western Reserve University. He then spent two years as a postdoctoral appointee 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, ...
.
Professional career
Hecker began his professional career as a senior research metallurgist with the General Motors Research Laboratories
General Motors Research Laboratories are the part of General Motors responsible for creation of the first known operating system (GM-NAA I/O) in 1955 and contributed to the first mechanical heart, the Dodrill-GMR, successfully used while performin ...
in 1970.
Los Alamos
After Hecker's return to 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, ...
, he led the laboratory's Materials Science and Technology Division and Center for Materials Science. He then served as the fifth Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986 till 1997 and was a Los Alamos Senior Fellow until 2005.
Stanford University
He first came to Stanford University as a visiting professor in 2005. In 2007 he became co-director of the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University has many centers and institutes dedicated to the study of various specific topics. These centers and institutes may be within a department, within a school but across departments, an independent laboratory, institute or center ...
and held this post until 2012.
Other activities
Nuclear Threat Initiative
Hecker also acts as advisor to the Nuclear Threat Initiative board of directors and belongs to the advisory council of CRDF Global
CRDF Global is an independent nonprofit organization that promotes safety, security, and sustainability through science and innovation. CRDF Global was authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1992 under the FREEDOM Support Act and established in 1995 b ...
, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration.
Visits to North Korea
He has visited North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
frequently in an unofficial capacity to assess the plutonium program at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center
The Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center is North Korea's major nuclear facility, operating its first nuclear reactors. It is located in Nyongbyon County in North Pyongan Province, about 100 km north of Pyongyang. The center produ ...
(once every year since 2004). In November 2010, Hecker visited the Yongbyon nuclear facility and reported on its advanced state.
Memberships in organizations
In addition to his National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
(NAE) membership, Dr. Hecker is a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...
and India Institute of Metals; fellow of the Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials Society (TMS), American Society for Metals
ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals, is an association of materials-centric engineers and scientists.
ASM provides several information resources, including technical books, various digital databases, and ASM Han ...
, American Physical Society (APS), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
; and honorary member of the American Ceramics Society.
Awards
His achievements have been recognized with the American Nuclear Society
The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines.
ANS is composed of three communities: ...
's Seaborg Medal and many other awards including the 2018 National Engineering Award from the American Association of Engineering Societies
The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is an umbrella organization of engineering societies in the US, founded by a group of 43 societies in 1979. After several disputes, and a change in focus in the mid-1980s from speaking for t ...
, the 2017 American Nuclear Society
The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is an international, not-for-profit organization of scientists, engineers, and industry professionals that promote the field of nuclear engineering and related disciplines.
ANS is composed of three communities: ...
Eisenhower Medal, the Navy League of the U.S.'s TR & FD Roosevelt Gold Medal for Science Award in 1996, the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy
The AAAS David and Betty Hamburg Award for Science Diplomacy (2022-) formerly the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy (2010-2021) and Award for International Scientific Cooperation (1992-2009), is awarded by The American Association for the Advancem ...
, the Leo Szilard Lectureship (APS), the Department of Energy's E.O. Lawrence Award, the LANL Medal, and the Case Western Reserve University Alumni Association Gold Medal and Undergraduate Distinguished Alumni Award.
The Secretary of Energy named Hecker, co-recipient of the 2009 Enrico Fermi Award
The Enrico Fermi Award is a scientific award conferred by the President of the United States. It is awarded to honor scientists of international stature for their lifetime achievement in the development, use, or production of energy. It was establ ...
. This Presidential Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious given by the U.S. Government and carries an honorarium of $375,000. He shares the honor with John Bannister Goodenough, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,07 ...
.
Publications
*Siegfried S.; Ghosh, A. K.; Metallurgical Society of Aime; Gegel, H. L.; Ame Hecker. "Formability, analysis, modeling, and experimentation: Proceedings of a symposium held in Chicago, Illinois, October 24 and 25, 1977" (1978).
*Hecker, S. S
"The Role of the DOE Weapons Laboratories in a Changing National Security Environment: CNSS Papers No. 8, April 1988"
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, ...
, Center for National Security Studies United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
, (April 1988).
*Hecker, S. S
"The Cold War is Over. What Now?"
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, ...
, United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
, (April 1995).
*Siegfried Hecker, Gian-Carlo Rota. "Essays on the Future: In Honor of Nick Metropolis 1996th Edition" (2000).
*Fluss, M.; Tobin, J.; Schwartz, A.; Petrovtsev, A. V.; Nadykto, B. A.; Timofeeva, L. F. Hecker, S. S. & V. E. Arkhipov
"6th US-Russian Pu Science Workshop Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory University of California, Livermore, California, July 14 and 15, 2006"
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
, (June 20, 2006).
*Hecker, Siegfried; Lee, Sean; Braun, Chaim
"North Korea's Choice: Bombs Over Electricity"
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
, (Summer 2010).
*Hecker, S.S. "Doomed to Cooperate: How American and Russian Scientists Joined Forces to Avert Some of the Greatest Post-Cold War Nuclear Dangers (2016).
References
External links
2001 Audio Interview with Siegried Hecker by Richard Rhodes
Voices of the Manhattan Project
Management Science and Engineering Department, Stanford University
The Hecker Years 1985-1997
Los Alamos National Laboratory
U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation
Siegfried Hecker
at WN
Siegfried S. Hecker
Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
Enrico Fermi Award citation and biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecker, Siegfried S.
1943 births
Stanford University School of Engineering faculty
Living people
Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Enrico Fermi Award recipients
American metallurgists
Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering
Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Experts on North Korea
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Fellows of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society