Vernon Norman Kerr (March 11, 1928 – May 28, 2020) was an American politician and scientist who served as a member of the

New Mexico House of Representatives ) is the lower house of the New Mexico State Legislature. There are 70 members of the House. Each member represents roughly 25,980 residents of New Mexico. The most recent elections were held on November 3, 2020. Composition Leadership Cu ...

Early life and education

Kerr was born in

Gallup, New Mexico Zuni: ''Kalabwaki'' , settlement_type = City , nickname = "Indian Capital of the World" , motto = , image_skyline = Gallup, New Mexico.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption ...

and graduated from

Gallup High School Gallup High School (GHS) is a public high school in Gallup, New Mexico. Gallup High School is the largest high school in the Gallup-McKinley County School District. The school's campus is relatively new as GHS moved to its current location in 1998 ...

. He received his bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry and his master's degree in organic chemistry from

New Mexico Highlands University New Mexico Highlands University (NMHU) is a public university in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Founded in 1893, it has satellite campuses in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Farmington and Roswell. NMHU has an average annual enrollment of approximate ...

Career

He was drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Kerr worked 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, ...

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...

from 1955 to 1987. He lived with his wife and family in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Kerr served in the

from 1971 until 1986 and was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He also served on the Los Alamos County Council. Kerr later served as secretary of the New Mexico Department of Finance.

Death

Kerr died in

at the age of 92.

References

1928 births 2020 deaths People from Gallup, New Mexico People from Los Alamos, New Mexico Military personnel from New Mexico New Mexico Highlands University alumni Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel County commissioners in New Mexico State cabinet secretaries of New Mexico Republican Party members of the New Mexico House of Representatives {{NewMexico-politician-stub