Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Iral B. Johns (1902-1987) was an American chemist.

An associate professor of chemistry at Iowa State University, Iral B. Johns joined the Manhattan Project in 1942 as a director of the plutonium proejct at the Ames, Iowa laboratory. Johns was immediately transferred to Los Alamos in 1943 to continue working on the Manhattan Project. He investigated methods of removing fission products from uranium. Eventually, he became the group leader of a chemistry group working with polonium. Johns was one of the official observers at the Trinity test site. 

Iral B. Johns’s Timeline
1902 Born.

1930 Graduated from Knox College magna cum laude.

1942 Became director of the plutonium project at the Ames laboratory.

1943 Moved to Los Alamos.

1987 Died.

Related Profiles

Evelyn Johnson Wilcox

Los Alamos, NM

Evelyn “Evie” Wilcox was a machinist at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. Prior to joining, she worked on airplanes in California for the war effort.

J. H. Keeney

Hanford, WA

J. H. Mynatt

Oak Ridge, TN

J. H. Mynatt worked for the United States Engineer District Office.

Hymer Friedell

Oak Ridge, TN

Hymer Friedell was the deputy medical director of the Manhattan Engineer District at Oak Ridge. He worked closely with Robert Stone and Stafford Warren in studying the effects of radiation on the human body.