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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Robert W. Henderson was an American engineer.

He attended the University of California School of Engineering. In 1942, he received an Academy Award for his work on photographic processes and special effects.

After being recruited to join the Manhattan Project, he worked at the University of California-Berkeley under Ernest O. Lawrence and at Oak Ridge on the design of the electromagnet to separate uranium isotopes at the Y-12 Plant. In 1944, he was transferred to Los Alamos, where he was the leader of Group X-2A (Engineering) in the Explosives Division. He was also involved with the engineering behind the Trinity Test. 

Henderson had planned to return to Hollywood after the war, but Norris Bradbury persuaded him to join what became the Sandia National Laboratories. 

Robert W. Henderson’s Timeline
1942 Received an Academy Award for his work on photographic processes and special effects.

1942 Nov1944 Mar Worked on the Manhattan Project at the University of California-Berkeley and Oak Ridge, TN.

1944 Transferred to Los Alamos to work in the Explosives Division.

19471974 Worked at Sandia National Laboratories, retiring as executive vice president.

2002 Jun 10th Died in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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