Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Paul Olum

Theoretical PhysicistLos Alamos, NM

Manhattan Project VeteranScientist
Paul Olum

Paul Olum (1918-2001) was an American theoretical physicist at Los Alamos from 1943 to 1945. Olum was born in 1918 in Binghamton, New York. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 1940, and received his M.A. from Princeton in 1942. After the war, he returned to Harvard, received his Ph.D. in mathematics in 1947, and became an outspoken advocate for nuclear arms control. He also served as President of the University of Oregon from 1980 to 1989. 

Paul Olum’s Timeline
1918 Aug 16th Born in Binghamton, New York

1940 Received B.S. from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude.

1942 Received M.A. from Princeton University

19431945 Worked as a theoretical physicist at Los Alamos for the Manhattan Project

19801989 Served as President of the University of Oregon

Related Profiles

Edwin F. Wakefield

Los Alamos, NM

Robert L. Thrap

Los Alamos, NM

Mary Shane

University of California, Berkeley

Mary Shane was an American astronomer and wife of astronomer C. Donald Shane. Mary Shane, born Mary Lea Heger, graduated from the University of California in 1919, and received her Ph.

D. G. Reynolds

Oak Ridge, TN

Reynolds worked for Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation.