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

Percy K. Bushnell

Los Alamos, NM

C. N. Rucker, Jr.

Oak Ridge, TN

C. N. Rucker, Jr. worked for the Union Carbide & Carbon Corporation.

F. M. Logan

Hanford, WA

Ed Hammel

Los Alamos, NM

Edward F. “Ed” Hammel was an American chemist. Hammel had just completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University when he joined a Canadian heavy water project sponsored by the school in 1941.