Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Verna Hobson (1923-2004) was an American secretary.

After moving to Princeton, NJ with her husband Wilder, Verna Hobson soon became a secretary for J. Robert Oppenheimer at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. Her tenure as his secretary coincided with Oppenheimer’s investigation by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC.) 

During this period she became close with the Oppenheimer family, most notable with Oppenheimer’s son Peter, to whom Hobson was a “surrogate mother.”

Verna Hobson’s Timeline
1923 Born.

19541956 Worked as J. Robert Oppenheimer’s secretary at the Institute for Advanced Study.

2004 Apr 13th Died in New Rochelle, NY.

Related Profiles

Carroll Gordon

Los Alamos, NM

Carroll “Red” Gordon (1919-2008) was a machinist at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Gordon was born in Topeka, Kansas on May 15, 1919.

Beatrice Foreman

Chicago, IL

Beatrice Foreman was a laboratory technician in the Chemistry Division of the University of Chicago’s Metallurgical Laboratory (“Met Lab”) during the Manhattan Project.

P. K. Bushnell

Hanford, WA

Percy W. Jones

Research & Development/300 Area

Jones worked at the 300 Area at Hanford during the Manhattan Project.