37 Facts About Harold Agnew

Harold Melvin Agnew was an American physicist, best known for having flown as a scientific observer on the Hiroshima bombing mission and, later, as the third director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Harold Agnew returned to Los Alamos in 1949, and worked on the Castle Bravo nuclear test at Bikini Atoll in 1954.

Harold Agnew became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964.

Harold Agnew served as a Democratic New Mexico State Senator from 1955 to 1961, and was the Scientific Adviser to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe from 1961 to 1964.

Harold Agnew was director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1970 to 1979, when he resigned to become President and Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics.

Harold Agnew died at his home in Solana Beach, California, on September 29,2013.

Harold Melvin Agnew was born in Denver, Colorado on March 28,1921, the only child of a pair of stonecutters.

Harold Agnew attended South Denver High School and entered the University of Denver, where he majored in chemistry.

Harold Agnew was a strong athlete who pitched for the university softball team that won a championship.

Harold Agnew left the University of Denver in January 1942, but had enough credits to graduate Phi Beta Kappa with his Bachelor of Arts degree in June, and he received a scholarship to Yale University.

At the Metallurgical Laboratory, Agnew worked with Enrico Fermi, Walter Zinn and Herbert L Anderson.

The Geiger counters were calibrated using a radon-beryllium source, and Harold Agnew received too high a dose of radiation.

Harold Agnew was then put to work stacking the graphite bricks that were the reactor's neutron moderator.

Harold Agnew witnessed the first controlled nuclear chain reaction when the reactor went critical on December 2,1942.

Harold Agnew then became secretary to Robert Bacher, the head of Physics Division, and later the Gadget Division, for the rest of the war.

Harold Agnew's job was to reassemble the accelerator, which was then used for experiments by John Manley's group.

When experimental work wound down, Agnew was transferred to Project Alberta, working as part of Luis W Alvarez's group, whose role was to monitor the yield of nuclear explosions.

Harold Agnew received his Master of Science degree in 1948 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1949, writing his thesis on "The beta-spectra of Cs137, Y91, Pm147, Ru106, Sm151, P32, Tm170".

Harold Agnew became head of the Weapon Nuclear Engineering Division in 1964.

Harold Agnew served as a Democratic New Mexico State Senator from 1955 to 1961.

Harold Agnew was the first state senator to be elected from Los Alamos County.

Harold Agnew attempted to reform New Mexico's liquor laws, which specified a minimum mark-up.

Harold Agnew was unsuccessful in 1957, but the law was reformed in 1963.

Harold Agnew held a number of part-time advisory position with the military over the years.

Harold Agnew was a member of the United States Air Force Scientific Advisory Board from 1957 to 1968, and was chairman of the Science Advisory Group of the United States Army's Combat Development Command from 1966 to 1970.

Harold Agnew was a member of the Defense Science Board from 1966 to 1970, the Army's Scientific Advisory Panel from 1966 to 1974, and the Army Science Board from 1978 to 1984.

Harold Agnew became director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1970, when it had 7,000 employees.

Harold Agnew managed to get the Los Alamos Laboratory responsibility for the development of the W76, used by the Trident I and Trident II Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles, and the W78 used by the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Harold Agnew was proud of the work with insensitive high explosive that made nuclear weapons safer to handle.

In 1979, Harold Agnew resigned from Los Alamos and became President and Chief Executive Officer of General Atomics, a position he held until 1985.

Harold Agnew chaired the General Advisory Committee of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency from 1974 to 1978, and served as a White House science councillor from 1982 to 1989.

Harold Agnew was a member of NASA's Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel from 1968 to 1974, and from 1978 to 1987.

Harold Agnew became an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego in 1988.

Harold Agnew was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Harold Agnew was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and died at his home in Solana Beach, California, on September 29,2013, while watching football on television.

Harold Agnew was survived by his daughter Nancy and son John.

Harold Agnew had arranged to be cremated and to have his ashes interred with Beverly at the Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos.