Joseph E. Burke was born on September 1, 1914 in Berkeley, California. He graduated from McMaster University in 1938, and then earned a Ph.D. in Ceramic Science from Cornell University. After, he worked for the Norton Company and the International Nickel Company.
In 1943, Burke was recruited for the Manhattan Project. He worked at the Los Alamos Lab from 1943 to 1946. Here, he helped design, build, and manage facilities that prepared plutonium nitrate. Later, Burke worked on a report of life in Los Alamos.
After the war, he went on to work for the Knolls Atomic Power Lab, and the University of Chicago.
Burke passed away on February 29, 2000.
Further Reading: “Recollections of Wartime Los Alamos: Uranium Hydride Preparation and Plutonium Processing” (Journal of Nuclear Materials, volume 100, November 16, 1981)