Paul Francis Kerr was an American mineralogist. A professor at Columbia University, he was recruited to locate supplies of uranium for the Manhattan Project. Among other locations, he traveled to the Shinkolobwe Mine in the Belgian Congo, the Northwest Territories in Canada, and various places in the western United States.
After World War II, Kerr worked with the Atomic Energy Commission to research uranium ore deposits in the Southwest. He chaired a commission to investigate problems with the international inspection of atomic materials and was involved in the First International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy.
Kerr’s daughter, Dr. Ruth Kerr Jakoby, was a girl during World War II. An interview with Ruth about her father’s work on the Manhattan Project can be found here.