Otto Hillig

MachinistChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranProject Worker/Staff

Listen to Otto Hillig’s Oral History on Voices of the Manhattan Project

Otto Hillig was a Danish machinist who helped work on various projects in the early days of the Manhattan Project. Nicknamed the “Great Dane” by Enrico Fermi, Hillig proved valuable in multiple capacities while working on Chicago Piles 1 and 2. Hillig served as a carbon dioxide moderator during several experiments on Chicago Pile 2. He had a friendly relationship with both Fermi and Walter Zinn, oftentimes playing jokes on them.

Related Profiles

Ward A. Bouvier

Chicago, IL

Ward A. Bouvier served from November 1943 to the end of the war, designing and producing precision instruments used by the scientific personnel at the Met Lab of the University of Chicago.

J. H. Stout, Jr.

Oak Ridge, TN

Capt. Joseph Stout MD worked for the United States Engineer District Office as one of the few obstetricians in Los Alamos from ’44-46.

T. L. Carson

X-10 Graphite Reactor

T. L. Carson worked for Clinton Laboratories at the X-10 Reactor.

Lester Everett

Y-12 Plant

Lester Everett worked for the Tennessee Eastman Corporation at the Y-12 Plant.