Leland John Haworth was an American physicist and scientist. He served as a professor of physics at the University of Illinois, as president of Associated Universities, Inc. , and as head of the Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the National Science Foundation.
Background
Leland John Haworth was born on July 11, 1904 in Flint, Michigan, United States. At the time of his birth his parents, Paul Leland Haworth and Martha Ackerman, were living in New York City, where his father was a graduate student and lecturer in history at Columbia University. His mother, a former teacher, chose to return to her hometown for the birth of the first of their three children.
In 1907 the family moved from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio, and in 1910, to West Newton, Indiana, where Haworth spent the next eighteen years.
Education
After graduating from West Newton High School in 1921, Haworth enrolled at Indiana University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics in 1925 and a Master of Arts degree in physics in 1926.
In 1928, Haworth was awarded a scholarship to the University of Wisconsin's Ph. D. program in physics. He received his doctorate in 1931 with the completion of his dissertation, "Secondary Electrons from Very Clean Metal Surfaces When Bombarded with Primary Electrons. "
Career
Haworth's first teaching position was as a physics instructor at the Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis (1926-1928).
During the last year of his graduate study, Haworth was a physics instructor at the University of Wisconsin. He continued to work there until 1937, when he received the Lalor Fellowship in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Haworth left MIT, after one year as a researcher in low-temperature physical chemistry, to become an associate professor of physics at the University of Illinois. His desire to be near his mother in Indiana, his father having died in 1938, was a major reason for his decision to leave MIT. Haworth soon found himself back at MIT, on leave from Illinois, to work at its radiation laboratory in support of the war effort.
From 1941 to 1946 he worked with the microwave committee at the radiation laboratory on the development of microwave radar. From 1942 to 1943 he was group leader within the committee, and in 1943 he became division head. In 1944, Haworth, though absent from his duties for three years, was promoted to full professor at the University of Illinois. In 1946, Haworth returned to his position as physics professor at the University of Illinois.
On April 15, 1947, he was contacted by the Brookhaven National Laboratory at Upton, New York, and invited in as a consultant. By July 1947, Haworth was assistant director in charge of special projects under Brookhaven's first director, Philip M. Morse. He supervised the expansion of Brookhaven's research facilities, including the building of the 30-megawatt graphite research reactor (BGRR) and the 3-giga-electron-volt proton accelerator (Cosmotron).
On July 17, 1948, Morse resigned, returning to a professorship at MIT. Haworth was then named acting director of the laboratory, holding that position until October, when he officially became director of the Brookhaven National Laboratory. During his tenure as director, Haworth continued to oversee the construction of the BGRR and the Cosmotron, as well as a number of other projects, including the 30-GeV alternating gradient accelerator (AGS).
In addition to his work at Brookhaven, Haworth assisted the Department of Defense with projects that included the Vista project in 1951 and the East River project in 1952. He was also chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Combat Developments for the army in 1954, was a member of the Technological Capabilities Panel of the President's Science Advisory Committee from 1954 to 1955, and headed Project Atlantis for the navy in 1959. In 1951, Haworth became vice-president of Associated Universities, Inc. (AUI), a nonprofit consortium of nine East Coast universities that was created to support major scientific research projects, including Brookhaven. Haworth served in that position until 1960 and was president from 1960 to 1961, after his predecessor, Lloyd V. Berkner, resigned. Haworth accepted the presidency reluctantly, placing a higher priority on his work at Brookhaven. As president, he was able to save AUI's 140-foot radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, after technical problems threatened to halt construction. He did this while recovering from surgery for colon cancer in the fall of 1959.
After fourteen years of service at Brookhaven, on April 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy asked Haworth to accept a position as a commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). As commissioner, Haworth was directly involved in the nuclear weapons program and in research and development of nuclear power and related technology. In 1962, President Kennedy asked the AEC to write a report on the relationship between nuclear power and the United States economy. Haworth, assigned the role of principal author, completed the report, Civilian Nuclear Power - A Report to the President - 1962, that same year. The report began the discussions in Congress on the need to support the research and development of all potential forms of energy in order to make the United States more energy independent.
During his twenty-seven months with the AEC, Haworth supported the Limited Test Ban Treaty, ratified in 1963, which grew out of his concern for the environmental effects of nuclear testing. As part of his work with the AEC, Haworth was a frequent visitor to the White House Office of Science and Technology.
Haworth was being considered for the position of director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). On July 1, 1963, he succeeded Allen T. Waterman in that post. He remained there until 1969, when a reorganization of the NSF and the coming of a new presidential administration made his position uncertain.
After leaving the NSF in July 1969, Haworth became special assistant to the president of AUI and special consultant to the director of the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
He died in Port Jefferson, New York.
Achievements
Membership
Haworth was a Member of the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Connections
On July 2, 1927, Haworth married Barbara Mottier, a secretary; they had two children.
In February 1961, Haworth's wife died after a long illness.
During his many visits, he met and fell in love with Irene Benik, who was secretary to the president's science adviser, J. B. Wiesner. Haworth and Benik married on May 15, 1963.