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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Jens Thornton, or “Jim” (as he went by at Berkeley) was an electrical engineer employed by Stone & Webster engineering firm during the Manhattan Project.

Thornton emigrated from Norway in 1922 and worked at the Otis Elevator Company on Boston before securing a job at Stone & Webster. He was let go during the Depression, but re-hired in 1937.  He served as the head of the Stone & Webster engineering team at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley before transferring to the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, Tennessee in the early 1940s. His son, Gunner Thornton, also worked on the Manhattan Project in the Special Engineer Detachment.

Jens Thornton’s Timeline
1892 Nov 12th Born.

1921 Emigrated from Norway.

1937 Hired for the second time by Stone & Webster.

1942 Began as head of Stone & Webster’s engineer team at the Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley.

1988 Jan 14th Died in Quincy, Massachusetts.

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