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National Museum of Nuclear Science & History

William Nierenberg

Theoretical Physicist, OceanographerLos Alamos, NM

Project Worker/StaffScientist
William Nierenberg, photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Vickijean

William Nierenberg was an accomplished theoretical physicist and oceanographer, who is known for his work in magnetic resonance and low-energy nuclear physics. It was during the Manhattan Project that Nierenberg did work in magnetic resonance and began his national and international service.
 

EARLY YEARS

Nierenberg was born on February 13, 1919 in New York. Admitted after a competitive examination, he began attending Townsend Harris High School in 1933. Nierenberg graduated from what is now called the City University of New York in 1939 with a degree in physics. Then, he began his graduate work at Columbia University. While at Columbia, Nierenberg was exposed to leading physicists, like Enrico Fermi, John Dunning and I.I. Rabi. Nierenberg met his wife, Edith Meyerson, in 1941 while a student at Columbia. He received his M.A. in 1942.
 

MANHATTAN PROJECT

Although he expected to enter into military service, Nierenberg’s enlistment was delayed in 1941 when Enrico Fermi and John Dunning gave him the opportunity to participate in six months of war work, which turned out to be the Manhattan Project.

During his time working on the Manhattan Project, he did work in magnetic resonance, leading him to become a section leader.
 

LATER YEARS

After finishing his time on the Manhattan Project, he returned to Columbia University to complete his graduate work, having been interrupted by the Manhattan Project. He received his Ph.D. in 1947. After teaching at the University of Michigan for two years, he started as an associate professor at the University of California Berkeley in 1950. He would remain at Berkeley until 1965. From 1960 to 1962, Nierenberg also held the position of assistant secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

From 1965 to 1986, Nierenberg served as the director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. From 1953 to 1954, Nierenberg had served as the Project Director of the Hudson Laboratories of Columbia University, becoming familiarized in naval warfare problems and developing a method for detecting pressure mines. Therefore, this switch to oceanography did not come from out of the blue. In addition, during his directorship, Nierenberg headed Scripps’s Deep Sea Drilling Project and helped to establish the North Pacific Experiment, studying the interaction between the upper waters of the North Pacific and the atmosphere. In the 1970s, he served as chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere.

Nierenberg died of cancer on September 10, 2000 at his home in La Jolla, California.

William Nierenberg's Timeline
1919 Feb 13th Born in New York.
1939 Graduated with a degree in physics from the City University of New York.
19421945 Worked on the Manhattan Project doing work in magnetic resonance.
1942 Received his M.A. in 1942 from Columbia University.
1947 Received his Ph.D. in 1947 from Columbia University.
19501965 Professor at the University of California Berkeley.
19531954 Served as the Project Director of the Hudson Laboratories of Columbia University, becoming familiarized in naval warfare and developing a method for detecting pressure mines.
19601962 Held position of assistant secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
19651986 Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
2000 Sep 10th Died of cancer at his home in La Jolla, California.

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