Background
Konopinski, Emil Jan was born on December 25, 1911 in Michigan City, Indiana, United States. Son of Joseph and Sophia (Sniegowski) Konopinski.
physicist university professor nuclear scientist
Konopinski, Emil Jan was born on December 25, 1911 in Michigan City, Indiana, United States. Son of Joseph and Sophia (Sniegowski) Konopinski.
Bachelor, University of Michigan, 1933; Master of Arts, University of Michigan, 1934; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Michigan, 1936.
He was, with George Uhlenbeck as thesis advisor, a 1934 Doctor of Philosophy graduate of the University of Michigan, and later a professor of physics at Indiana University. His doctoral students include Eugene Greuling. During World World War II Konopinski collaborated with Enrico Fermi on the first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago.
He also joined the Manhattan Project to develop the first nuclear weapon (atomic bomb).
He, together with C. Marvin and Edward Teller, showed that a thermonuclear explosion would not ignite the atmosphere and thereby destroy the earth. An Atomic Energy Commission consultant from 1946 to 1968, he wrote a book entitled The Theory of Beta Radioactivity.
Active fellowship board National Research Council, 1951. Member American Physical Society, Phi Beta Kappa.