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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Jerome Otto Ackerman was a member of the Special Engineer Detachment who served as a group leader at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.

Born in Hastings, Minnesota, Ackerman received a degree in engineering from the University of Minnesota and joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1928. During World War II, Ackerman served as an officer with the Special Engineer Detachment in Los Alamos. There he led Group X-3, which worked on explosives development and production.

After the war, he became the Chief of Engineering in the Missouri River Division of the Army Engineers. In that role, he supervised planning, dam design, river control, and military construction in the Missouri River basin. He retired in 1970, and died a year later in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Jerome O. Ackerman’s Timeline
1909 Mar 1st Born in Hastings, Minnesota.

1928 Joined the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

1944 Aug1945 Aug Led Group X-3, Explosives Development and Production

1971 Jan 23rd Died in Omaha, Nebraska.

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