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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Robert Purbrick

PhysicistChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranScientist

Bob Purbrick was an American physicist.

Purbrick was born in 1919 in Salem, Oregon. He received a B.A. from Willamette University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.

In 1943, Purbrick was hired to work on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago. He would work at both the Met Lab and at the Argonne Laboratory. He was a signatory of the Szilard Petition, which protested the use of the atomic bomb.

After the war, Purbrick would go on to teach physics at Willamette University. Purbrick died on October 6, 2010.

Robert Purbrick’s Timeline
1919 Dec 5th Born in Salem, Oregon.

1942 Received a B.A. from Willamette University.

19431945 Worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago.

19471985 Taught physics at Willamette University.

2010 Oct 6th Died.

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