Raymond Sheline was a chemist at Columbia University and a member of the Special Engineer Detachment at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos.
Sheline received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1949 and was a professor at Florida State University for 48 years. Among other accomplishments, he helped establish a nuclear chemistry lab at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen and published more than 400 scientific papers. He died on February 10, 2016 in Fort Meyers, FL.
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation. I have with me David Holcomb. First question for David is to say his name and spell it.
David Holcomb: My name’s David Holcomb, D-a-v-i-d H-o-l-c-o-m-b.
Kelly: Terrific. Now, I want to know something about yourself—where you’re from, when you were born, and then what sparked your interest in science.
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation. It is Wednesday, April 25th, 2018. I have with me Julie Ezold. My first question is to have Julie tell us her name and spell it.
Julie Ezold: Julie Ezold, E-z-o-l-d.
Kelly: Great. Thank you, Julie. All right. First, we want to learn something about you—where you’re from, and something about your childhood or what got you started in wanting to become a scientist.
Bill Wilcox: My name is Bill Wilcox. William J. Wilcox, Jr.
Cindy Kelly: And how do you spell Wilcox?
Wilcox: W-I-L-C-O-X.
Kelly: Why was Oak Ridge chosen for the Manhattan Project?
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly. It is Thursday, April 26, 2018, and I have with me Gordon Fee. Gordon, first, why don’t you just tell us a little bit about your background and how you happened to come to Oak Ridge and what you’ve done here.
Gordon Fee is the retired president of Lockheed Martin Energy Systems and the former manager of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, TN. He began working at Oak Ridge at the K-25 gaseous diffusion plant in 1956. In this interview, he describes his career at Oak Ridge, and shares stories about his work at Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In particular, he focuses on scientific developments connected with Oak Ridge, including the growth of the Nuclear Navy, the use of radioisotopes in medicine, and more.
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly, Atomic Heritage Foundation. It is Wednesday, April 25, 2018. I am in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and I have with me Justin Baba. My first question for Justin is to please state your full name and spell it.
Justin Baba: Justin Shekwoga Baba. That is J-u-s-t-i-n, Shekwoga is S-h-e-k-w-o-g-a, and Baba is B-a-b-a.
Kelly: Thank you, Justin. My first question is to tell us something about yourself. Where were you born and how did you get interested in becoming a scientist?
Justin Baba is a researcher and biomedical engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Born in Nigeria, he moved to the United States to attend college and has worked at ORNL since 2003. In this interview, Baba explains how he became interested in science and medical research. He also describes some of the projects he has worked on at ORNL, including efforts to create functional imaging of the brain and imaging of plants as part of research into renewable energy sources.
Budhendra “Budhu” Bhaduri is a Corporate Research Fellow and group leader of the Geographic Information Science and Technology Group in the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He has worked at ORNL since 1998. In this interview, Dr. Bhaduri describes how his group researches global population dynamics, including studying population distribution and movement from rural areas to cities.
Cindy Kelly: I’m Cindy Kelly. It is Wednesday, April 25, 2018. I have with me a scientist who is working in the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate. My first question to him is to say his name and spell it.
Budhu Bhaduri: My name is Budhu Bhaduri, spelled B-u-d-h-u, and last name spelled B-h-a-d-u-r-i.
Kelly: Thank you. My first question is to tell us something about yourself. Where were you born, what was your childhood, how did you become interested in becoming a scientist?
