Born and raised in Weiser, Idaho, Batzel graduated from Weiser High School in 1940 and enrolled at the University of Idaho in Moscow. Batzel worked for General Electric for a year at nearby Hanford, Washington, then attended graduate school at the University of California in Berkeley.
He left college during World World War II to serve in the United States. Army Air Forces as a navigation instructor, then returned to UI and earned a bachelor"s degree in chemical engineering in 1947. Betzel then worked as a senior chemist for California Research and Development Company
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. 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 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 weapons, advising four United States. 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.
Batzel suffered a major heart attack 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."
He is buried at Queen of Heaven Cemetery in Lafayette, California.
American Physical Society.
