Norman Harry Nachtrieb was an American chemist who worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago and Los Alamos.
Nachtrieb received his B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemisry from the University of Chicago in 1936 and 1941, respectively. After getting his Ph.D., he led an analytical chemistry laboratory for Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company until 1943, when he became a part of the Manhattan Project.
With the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, Nachtrieb studied the spectroscopy of uranium and plutonium. He continued his work in the analytic group of the Chemistry Division at Los Alamos from 1944 until 1946.
In 1946, Nachtrieb returned to the University of Chicago as an assistant professor. He stayed at Chicago for the rest of his career, where he served as Chairman of the Chemistry Department and Associate Dean in the Physical Sciences Division. Nachtrieb co-wrote two books: Principles and Practice of Spectrochemical Analysis and an edition of Principles of Modern Chemistry, with David Oxtoby. He also published numerous articles based on his chemical research.
Nachtrieb died on September 11, 1991, in Palos Heights, Illinois.