List of Nobel laureates who worked on the Manhattan Project

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to a total of 965 individuals and 27 organizations as of 2023.[1] It was awarded to 29 scientists who also worked on the Manhattan Project. Of these, 22 won the Prize in Physics, five won the Prize in Chemistry, one won the Peace Prize, and one won the Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Awarded Nobel Prize before working on the Manhattan Project

Year Image Laureate Prize Motivation Manhattan Project References
1922 Niels Bohr Physics "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][2]
1925 James Franck Physics “for their discovery of the laws governing the impact of an electron upon an atom” Metallurgical Laboratory [1][3]
1927 Arthur Compton Physics "for his discovery of the effect named after him" Metallurgical Laboratory [1][4]
1932 James Chadwick Physics "for the discovery of the neutron" British contribution to the Manhattan Project [1][5]
1934 Harold Urey Chemistry "for his discovery of heavy hydrogen" SAM Laboratory [1][6]
1938 Enrico Fermi Physics "for his demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons" Metallurgical Laboratory, Los Alamos Laboratory [1][4][7]
1939 Ernest Lawrence Physics "for the invention and development of the cyclotron and for results obtained with it, especially with regard to artificial radioactive elements" Radiation Laboratory [1][8]

Awarded Nobel Prize during the Manhattan Project

Year Image Laureate Prize Motivation Manhattan Project References
1944 Isidor Isaac Rabi Physics "for his resonance method for recording the magnetic properties of atomic nuclei" Consultant [1][9]

Awarded Nobel Prize after working on the Manhattan Project

Year Image Laureate Prize Motivation Manhattan Project References
1946 Hermann Joseph Muller Physiology or Medicine "for the discovery of the production of mutations by means of X-ray irradiation" Civilian advisor [10][11]
1951 John Cockcroft Physics "for their pioneer work on the transmutation of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles" Montreal Laboratory [1][12]
1951 Edwin M. McMillan Chemistry "for their discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][13]
1951 Glenn Theodore Seaborg Chemistry "for their discoveries in the chemistry of the transuranium elements" Metallurgical Laboratory [1][14]
1952 Felix Bloch Physics "for their development of new methods for nuclear magnetic precision measurements and discoveries in connection therewith" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][15]
1959 Emilio Segrè Physics "for their discovery of the antiproton" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][16]
1960 Willard F. Libby Chemistry "for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics, and other branches of science" SAM Laboratories [1][17]
1961 Melvin Calvin Chemistry "for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plants" Radiation Laboratory [18][19][20]
1963 Maria Goeppert Mayer Physics "for their discoveries concerning nuclear shell structure" SAM Laboratories, Los Alamos Laboratory [1][21]
1963 Eugene Wigner Physics "for his contributions to the theory of the atomic nucleus and the elementary particles, particularly through the discovery and application of fundamental symmetry principles" Metallurgical Laboratory [1][22]
1965 Richard P. Feynman Physics "for their fundamental work in quantum electrodynamics, with deep-ploughing consequences for the physics of elementary particles" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][23]
1967 Hans Bethe Physics "for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in stars" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][24]
1968 Luis Alvarez Physics "for his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonance states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chamber and data analysis" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][25]
1975 Aage Bohr Physics "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][26]
1975 James Rainwater Physics "for the discovery of the connection between collective motion and particle motion in atomic nuclei and the development of the theory of the structure of the atomic nucleus based on this connection" Metallurgical Laboratory [1][27]
1977 John van Vleck Physics "for their fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems" Consultant [1][28][29]
1980 Val Fitch Physics "for the discovery of violations of fundamental symmetry principles in the decay of neutral K-mesons" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][30]
1983 William Alfred Fowler Physics "for his theoretical and experimental studies of the nuclear reactions of importance in the formation of the chemical elements in the universe" Los Alamos Laboratory [31]
1989 Norman F. Ramsey Physics "for the invention of the separated oscillatory fields method and its use in the hydrogen maser and other atomic clocks" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][32]
1995 Frederick Reines Physics "for the detection of the neutrino" Los Alamos Laboratory [1][33]
1995 Joseph Rotblat Peace "for efforts to diminish the part played by nuclear arms in international affairs and, in the longer run, to eliminate such arms." Los Alamos Laboratory [1][34]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "All Nobel Prizes". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  2. ^ Pais 1991, pp. 498–499.
  3. ^ Compton 1956, p. 124.
  4. ^ a b Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 55–56.
  5. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 280–282.
  6. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 128–129.
  7. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 245–246.
  8. ^ Hiltzik 2015, pp. 268–275.
  9. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 231–232.
  10. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1946". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  11. ^ "Hermann J. Muller". nuclearmuseum.org.
  12. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 257–258, 283–284.
  13. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 59–64, 271–273.
  14. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 204–205.
  15. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 43–49, 134, 141.
  16. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 190–195, 234–236.
  17. ^ Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 99, 122–126.
  18. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1961". Nobel Foundation. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  19. ^ Farrell, Shanna (31 July 2018). "From the Archives: The Making of Mr. Photosynthesis - UC Berkeley Library Update". Retrieved 15 August 2025. ... to joining Berkeley's College of Chemistry in 1937, through his efforts in the Manhattan Project, to his pioneering research on photosynthesis
  20. ^ "Calvin Wins the Nobel Prize for His Work on Photosynthesis | EBSCO Research Starters". www.ebsco.com. Retrieved 15 August 2025. From 1941 to 1945, Calvin's work was directed at the war effort; this included two years on the Manhattan Project.
  21. ^ Howes & Herzenberg 1999, pp. 40, 47–48.
  22. ^ Compton 1956, pp. 167–171.
  23. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 157–160, 246, 331–332.
  24. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 247, 343–345.
  25. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 151–1546.
  26. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 95, 317.
  27. ^ "James Rainwater – Biographical". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  28. ^ Compton 1956, p. 46.
  29. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 25, 42, 54.
  30. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 98, 188.
  31. ^ "William Alfred Fowler Oral History Interview". digital.archives.caltech.edu. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
  32. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 383–384.
  33. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 359–360, 393.
  34. ^ Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 98, 347.

References

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