Nuclear Museum Logo
Nuclear Museum Logo

National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

Seymour Bernstein (1923-2015) was an American chemical engineer who worked on the Manhattan Project. He was a member of the Special Engineer Detachment at Oak Ridge and worked as a laboratory supervisor at the K-25 Plant.

He met his wife, Clementine Self, at a dance on the tennis courts in Oak Ridge on V-J Day. 

After the war, he worked as a civilian for the K-25 Plant until 1950, when he transferred to Union Carbide’s gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, KY. He worked at the Paducah plant until his retirement in 1988.

Bernstein died on April 21, 2015 in Ocala, FL.

Seymour Bernstein’s Timeline
1923 Jul 16th Born in Bronx, NY.

1940 Graduated from Evander Childs High School.

1944 Graduated with a BS in chemical engineer from Bucknell University.

1944 Sep Recruited into the US Army and assigned to Camp Fanin, TX.

1944 Feb Recruited to the Special Engineer Detachment and transferred to Oak Ridge, TN.

1945 Worked at the K-25 Plant as Laboratory Supervisor.

1945 Aug 14th Met his future wife, Clemmie Self.

1946 Discharged from the SED.

19461950 Worked as a civilian at the K-25 Plant in Oak Ridge.

1947 Feb 14th Married his wife, Clemmie.

19501988 Worked at the gaseous diffusion plant in Paducah, KY.

2015 Apr 21st Died in Ocala, FL.

Seymour Bernstein in Oak Ridge in 1945

Seymour Bernstein in 1946 on the steps of the women's dormitory in Oak Ridge

Seymour and Clemmie in 1946 on the steps of the women's dormitory in Oak Ridge

Related Profiles

Haskell Sheinberg

Los Alamos, NM

Haskell Sheinberg arrived at Los Alamos in late 1944 as part of the Special Engineer Detachment. Sheinberg’s first assignment was to purify plutonium under the direction of Arthur Wahl, one of the co-discoverers of plutonium.

Bernard Mandell

K-25 Plant

Attended the City College of New York.

Milton C. Sprouse

Tinian Island

Milton C. Sprouse served in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron.

Tom Scolman

Los Alamos, NM

Tom Scolman arrived in Los Alamos shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota under renowned physicist Alfred Nier.