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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Frederic William Albaugh

ChemistChicago, IL

Hanford, WA
Manhattan Project VeteranScientist
Sketch of Chicago Pile-1 by Melvin A. Miller

Frederic William Albaugh (1913-1999) was an American chemist. He received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1941. After graduate school, he worked as a chemist at the Union Oil Company in Wilmington, California for two years. 

He then joined the Manhattan Project as a research chemist at the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago. While working on the Manhattan Project, he met a young secretary named Edrey Smith whom he married in 1944.

After the war, the two moved to Los Angeles briefly before moving to Richland, WA. In Washington, Albaugh worked at the Hanford Plant for General Electric. There he played a valuable role in the labs transition from wartime activities to peaceful energy.

Albaugh died on February 22, 1999 in Richland, WA. 

Frederic William Albaugh’s Timeline
1913 Born in Albia, Iowa.

1935 Received a B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles.

1938 Received an M.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan.

1941 Received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Michigan.

19411943 Worked as a chemist at the Union Oil Company.

19441945 Worked as a research chemist on the Manhattan Project at the Met Lab.

19451947 Returned to work at the Union Oil Company.

1947 Began working for GE at the Hanford Lab.

1999 Feb 22nd Died in Richland, WA.

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