Robert Oppenheimer

1904- 1967

Physicist

The father of the atomic bomb, American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer attended Harvard, Cambridge and Gottingen University, from which he received his doctorate in 1927.

For nearly 15 years, Oppenheimer taught advanced physics at Berkeley and Cal Tech, all the while conducting research and inspiring students. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Oppenheimer was called upon to direct the Manhattan Project, operating out of Los Alamos.

Though he and his hand-picked colleagues were successful, he advised against the use of the atomic bomb to defeat Japan. After the war, he was a vocal supporter of international efforts to control atomic energy.

Oppenheimer ran into trouble with the rise of McCarthyism and, in 1953, his security clearance was suspended by President Eisenhower.

Oppenheimer continued his work at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study and was honored with the Enrico Fermi Award in 1963.