Darol Froman (1906-1997) was an American-born, Canadian physicist.
In 1939, Darol Froman studied waveguides and radar as part of a McGill group dedicated to helping the Canadian war effort. Three years later, Froman joined the Manhattan Project’s Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) at the University of Chicago and observed the start of Pile-1, the first nuclear reactor. At Los Alamos, Froman, who was one of the earliest arrivals, headed an electronics group and then an electrical method group that was focused on developing the implosion-type bomb.
Later Years
Froman decided to stay at Los Alamos and continue nuclear work after the war ended. He headed the Operation Sandstorm nuclear tests in the Enewetak Atoll that were performed in 1948. In 1951, he was named Deputy Director of Los Alamos and served in that position until his retirement, just over a decade later. He was heavily involved in both the design of the hydrogen bomb and the proposed design of a nuclear thermal rocket. Froman died in Phoenix, Arizona in 1997.