Paul R. O’Connor

Junior ChemistChicago, IL

Manhattan Project VeteranScientist

Paul R. O’Connor was a junior chemist at the University of Chicago Met Lab during the Manhattan Project. He worked on isolating plutonium isotopes. In 1945, he signed the Szilard petition.

After World War II, O’Connor earned his Ph.D. and was Professor of Chemistry for many years at the University of Minnesota. He helped revamp chemistry curricula in the 1960s as part of a national effort to promote national math and science education.

Paul R. O’Connor’s Timeline

1921 Feb 3rd Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1945 Signed the Szilard petition.

19471973 Professor of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota.

2013 Mar Died in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Related Profiles

Margaret Schelberg

Los Alamos, NM

Margaret Schelberg was a nurse at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project. She was married to physicist Arthur Schelberg.

Jasper B. Jeffries

Chicago, IL

Jasper Brown Jeffries was an American physicist. Jeffries was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on April 15, 1912.

Carl S. Helrich, Sr.

Oak Ridge, TN

Carl Helrich (1895-1971) was a civil engineer for the J.A. Construction Company from 1943 to 1945 and helped construct the Oak Ridge town site and plant area.

George T. Reynolds

Tinian Island

George T. Reynolds was an American physicist and a Naval officer during the Manhattan Project. Reynolds was born in Trenton, NJ on May 27, 1917.