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Carl Helmholz

PhysicistUniversity of California, Berkeley

Military VeteranScientist

Carl Helmholz (1915-2003) was an American physicist involved with the Manhattan Project. 

Helmholz was born on May 24, 1915 in Evanston, Illinois. He received a B.A. from Harvard in 1932. After spending a year at Cambridge University, Helmholz applied for the University of California, Berkeley’s graduate program in physics. 

At Berkeley, Helmholz worked with the universities 37-inch cyclotron. In 1942 he joined the Manhattan Project. He worked with the Berkeley Radiation Lab’s cyclotrons to separate uranium for experiments at Los Alamos.

After the war, Helmholz continued studying nuclear physics at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He became a full professor of physics in 1951. After that, he was chair of the Berkeley physics department for seven years. 

Helmholz died on October 29, 2003 in Lafayette, California. 

Carl Helmholz’s Timeline
1915 May 24th Born in Evanston, Illinois.

1932 Received a B.A. from Harvard.

1940 Completed his Ph.D. thesis.

1942 Began working on the Manhattan Project.

1943 Became assistant professor at Berkeley.

1951 Promoted to full professor.

19551962 Served as chair of the Berkeley physics department.

1979 Received an honorary D.Sc. from the University of Strathclyde.

1980 Retired from the physics department.

1988 Named a Berkeley Fellow.

2003 Oct 29th Died in Lafayette, California.

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