Harold Hasenfus

After graduating from the College of the City of New York with a degree in mechanical engineering, Harold Hasenfus volunteered for the army and joined the Special Engineer Detachment at the University of Chicago’s Metalurgical Laboratory. Hasenfus worked at a pilot plant that was constructed to assist in the design of the B Reactor in Hanford for the production of plutonium. Later, he was transferred to Oak Ridge to work on thermal diffusion. Hasenfus attributes the success of the Manhattan Project to General Groves, who he described as a “tremendously dynamic individual.” When Hasenfus returned to Stagg Field at the University of Chicago years later, he was surprised to find “a big open field with a beautiful green lawn and a marker about the size of a desk to show that the first sustained chan reaction had taken place there.” After the war, Hasenfus worked at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and was Technical Director for the Naval Space Surveillance System (Naval Surface Warfare Center, 1961-1986) in Dahlgren, VA.