Roger Elwood Batzel (December 1, 1921 – July 29, 2000) was an American

nuclear scientist Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the ...

, best known as the director of the

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Livermore, California, United States. Originally established in 1952, the laboratory now i ...

for over sixteen years, from 1971 to 1988.

Early years

Born and raised in

Weiser, Idaho Weiser ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Idaho. With its mild climate, the city supports farm, orchard, and livestock endeavors in the vicinity. The city sits at the confluence of the Weiser River with the great Snake Ri ...

, Batzel graduated from Weiser High School in 1940 and enrolled at the

University of Idaho The University of Idaho (U of I, or UIdaho) is a public land-grant research university in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Established in 1889 and opened three years later, it was the state's sole university for 71 years, until 1963. The un ...

in Moscow. He left college during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to serve in the

U.S. Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

as a

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

instructor, then returned to UI and earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

in 1947. Batzel worked for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

for a year at nearby

Hanford Hanford may refer to: Places *Hanford (constituency), a constituency in Tuen Mun, People's Republic of China *Hanford, Dorset, a village and parish in England *Hanford, Staffordshire, England *Hanford, California, United States *Hanford, Iowa, ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, then attended graduate school at the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in Berkeley. He earned a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry in 1951, studying under Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, a

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner that same year. Batzel then worked as a senior chemist for California Research and Development Co.

Lawrence Livermore

Batzel joined the University of California Radiation Laboratory at Livermore in its second year in 1953 as an assistant division leader with the chemistry department, and became its head in 1959. (Shortly after

Ernest Lawrence Ernest Orlando Lawrence (August 8, 1901 – August 27, 1958) was an American accelerator physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939 for his invention of the cyclotron. He is known for his work on uranium-isotope separation for ...

's death in August 1958, the Berkeley and Livermore labs were renamed "Lawrence Radiation Laboratory.") In 1961, Batzel became associate director of chemistry and was also named associate director of nuclear testing, a position he held until 1964. He was associate director of chemistry and space reactors from 1966 to 1968 and associate director of chemistry and biomedical research in 1969. Batzel was appointed as the newly renamed Lawrence Livermore Laboratory's sixth director on December 1, 1971, his 50th birthday. He was its longest-serving director and was one of the nation's leading authorities on

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear exp ...

s, advising four U.S. presidents. Under his guidance, the Laboratory broadened its mission from primarily nuclear weapons to many areas of applied science, and he stepped down in April 1988 at age 66.

Death

Batzel suffered a major

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in July 2000 at age 78 and died several days later in a San Ramon hospital. Later that year, the Laboratory dedicated Building 132, the national security building, in Batzel's memory for his "legacy of excellence in support of national security."

Personal

Batzel was married to Edwina (Grindstaff) Batzel (b. 1926) for 54 years and they had three children, a son and two daughters. He is buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette, California.

References

External links

University of Idaho Alumni Hall of Fame
– 1972 inductees {{DEFAULTSORT:Batzel, Roger 20th-century American chemists American chemical engineers Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory staff University of Idaho alumni UC Berkeley College of Chemistry alumni Fellows of the American Physical Society Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science People from Weiser, Idaho 1921 births 2000 deaths 20th-century American engineers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II