G. Neil Hamilton was born in Amarillo, TX on October 23, 1930 during the great recession and the sand storms of the Dust Bowl, where he worked as a cowboy on his parents small ranch. Не graduated from Amarillo High School, Amarillo Junior College and in 1953 from Texas Technical College, with a BA in Chemistry and was immediately drafted for the Korean War. Having been in the ROTC, he was sent to Naval Reserve Officers Commission School in San Diego, CA where he studied Electronics.
In 1954 he sailed on the aircraft carrier “USS Bairoko CVE-115” to Korea where by then a cease fire was in force. In winter 1954 he assisted in “Operation Castle” at Eniwetok, Bikini Atoll, where he witnessed the detonation of the last hydrogen bomb which got him interested in Nuclear Physics. When his mandatory service was over, he signed on for another year and sailed on the destroyer “USS Buck DD-761”. He retired from the Reserve as a Lieutenant-Commander.
With his GI Bill he studied at San Diego State College in California and received in 1959 his Masters in Applied Nuclear Physics.
He worked for a short time for General Atomics in CA but joined in October 1960 Westinghouse Nuclear Power in Pittsburgh, PA. They had already for two years a test nuclear reactor, at, and later just called “Waltz Mill”. Neil and his colleagues taught there numerous new operators from the U.S., Europe and Asia.
Neil married while in the Navy and eventually had four children. Since, after many years, his wife and he decided to live separately, Neil mostly took overseas assignments. He lived in Belgium for 2.5 years, Italy for 1 year, Spain for 1.5 years, Japan for 9 years (where he learned and practiced judo and kendo) and South Korea for 3 years. Sometimes he was called for assistance to Sweden and (now defunct) Yugoslavia. He worked in all aspects of nuclear reactor development for the production of electricity. With his easy going manner and self deprecating humor Neil fit in everywhere and made friends all over the world.
In Belgium Neil had met a girl from the Netherlands, Marianne de Fouw, with whom he stayed in contact for many years and married in Japan in September 1978.
After more then 30 years with Westinghouse he was retired per January 1991. In 1996 he and his wife moved to Albuquerque which they both enjoyed tremendously and where Neil passed away at 79 years, on March 7, 2010. His wife stayed in Albuquerque where Neil’s children and grandchildren are always welcome.