Joseph W. Kennedy

Joseph William Kennedy
Joseph William Kennedy
Born	(1916-05-30)May 30, 1916 Nacogdoches, Texas
Died	May 5, 1957(1957-05-05) (aged 40) St. Louis, Missouri
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley University of Kansas Stephen F. Austin State University
Known for	First Isolation of Plutonium
Awards	Medal for Merit (1946)
Scientific career
Fields	Chemistry
Institutions	Los Alamos National Laboratory Washington University in St. Louis
Thesis	Studies of nuclear isomerism in tellurium, element 43, and zinc  (1939)
Doctoral advisor	George Ernest Gibson

Joseph William Kennedy (May 30, 1916 – May 5, 1957) was an American chemist who co-discovered plutonium, along with Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin McMillan, and Arthur Wahl. During World War II, he led the CM (Chemistry and Metallurgy) Division at the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory, where he oversaw research onto the chemistry and metallurgy of uranium and plutonium. After the war, he was recruited as a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he is credited with transforming a university primarily concerned with undergraduate teaching into one that also boasts strong graduate and research programs. He died of cancer of the stomach at the age of 40.