Biography:Frederic de Hoffmann

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Short description: Nuclear physicist (1924–1989)
Frederic de Hoffman Los Alamos badge

Frederic de Hoffmann (July 8, 1924 in Vienna, Austria – October 4, 1989 in La Jolla) was a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project.[1] He came to the United States of America in 1941 and graduated from Harvard University in 1945 (he also received a master's in 1947 and a doctorate in 1948).[1] Before graduating, de Hoffmann was sent to Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1944 where he assisted Edward Teller in the development of the Hydrogen bomb.[1] Frederic de Hoffmann was an advocate of peaceful atomic energy.[1]

After leaving Los Alamos, de Hoffmann collaborated with Hans Bethe and Silvan Schweber on a textbook called Mesons and Fields and became chairman of the Committee of Senior Reviewers of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.[2] He received his Ph.D from Julian Schwinger in 1948.[3]

Frederic De Hoffmann moved to the General Dynamics Corporation in 1955.[1] That year he was recruited by John Jay Hopkins to found General Atomics and serve as its first president.[1][4] This organization's purpose was to manufacture nuclear reactors for energy production, and sell them on the open market.[5] In the late '50s he organized Project Orion, a plan for a spaceship to be propelled by nuclear bombs.[6]

He helped found the University of California's campus in San Diego.[4]

De Hoffmann joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1970 and served as its president for 18 years.[1] He was also the chairman and chief executive officer of the Salk Institute Biotechnology-Industry Associates Inc.[5] When de Hoffmann retired in 1988 he was named the institute's president emeritus.[5] He died in 1989 of AIDS,[1] which he contracted in 1984 from an infected blood transfusion he received during surgery.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Stevens, William K. (1989-10-07). "Frederic de Hoffmann, 65, Dies; Physicist and Salk Institute Chief". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/07/obituaries/frederic-de-hoffmann-65-dies-physicist-and-salk-institute-chief.html. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
  2. Dyson, George (2002). Project Orion. Great Britain: Penguin Books. pp. 31. 
  3. Mehra, Jagdish; Milton, Kimball A. (2000). Climbing the Mountain: The Scientific Biography of Julian Schwinger. Oxford University Press. pp. 153. ISBN 0-19-850658-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=M_ONmDLmGO4C&dq=%22frederic+de+hoffmann%22&pg=PA153. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Seidel, Robert W. (May 1995). Technology transfer: Half-way houses. Department of Energy. doi:10.2172/105070. http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp;jsessionid=C17C7D666E7DADF5A024E6C3D6FF7022?purl=/105070-eHzsZs/webviewable/. Retrieved 2010-03-12. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Frederic de Hoffmann". Sarasota herald-Tribune: pp. 7B. 1989-10-07. https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=gbYcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VHoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6267,1698262&dq=frederic-de-hoffmann&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-03-12. 
  6. Dyson, Freeman J. (1996). Selected papers of Freeman Dyson with commentary. United States: American Mathematical Society. pp. 26. ISBN 9780821805619. https://books.google.com/books?id=nnyNUidX1OMC&dq=%22frederic+de+hoffmann%22+orion&pg=PA26. 
  7. "Many fall victim to AIDS". Gadsden Times: pp. A18. 1989-12-31. https://news.google.com.au/newspapers?id=vWgfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7dQEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2823,4152402&dq=frederic-de-hoffmann&hl=en. Retrieved 2010-03-12.