Walter Zinn
| Walter Zinn | |
|---|---|
Walter Zinn
|
|
| Born |
December 10, 1906 Berlin, Ontario |
| Died | February 14, 2000 (aged 93) Safety Harbor, Florida |
| Citizenship | Canadian American |
| Fields | Nuclear physics |
| Institutions |
University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory Manhattan Project |
| Alma mater |
Queen's University (BA 1927, MA 1930) Columbia University (Ph.D) (1934) |
| Thesis | Two-Crystal Study of the Structure and Width of K X-Ray Absorption Limits (1934) |
| Notable awards |
Atoms for Peace Award (1960) Enrico Fermi Award (1969) Elliott Cresson Medal (1970) |
Walter Henry Zinn (December 10, 1906 – February 14, 2000) was a nuclear physicist who was the first director of the Argonne National Laboratory from 1946 to 1956. He worked at the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory during World War II, and supervised the construction of Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first nuclear reactor, which went critical on December 2, 1942, at the University of Chicago. At Argonne he designed and built several new reactors, including Experimental Breeder Reactor I, the first nuclear reactor to produce electric power, which went live on December 20, 1951.
Walter Henry Zinn was born in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario , on December 10, 1906, the son of John Zinn, who worked in a tire factory, and Maria Anna Stoskopf. He had an older brother, Albert, who also became a factory worker.
Zinn entered Queen's University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics in 1927 and a Master of Arts degree in 1930. He then entered Columbia University in 1930, where he studied physics, writing his Doctor of Philosophy thesis on "Two-crystal study of the structure and width of K X-ray absorption limits". This was subsequently published in the Physical Review.
To support himself, Zinn taught at Queen's University from 1927 to 1928, and at Columbia from 1931 to 1932. He became an instructor at the City College of New York in 1932. While at Queen's he met Jennie A. (Jean) Smith, a fellow student. They were married in 1933 and had two sons, John Eric and Robert James. In 1938, Zinn became a naturalised United States citizen.
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