Henry A. Boorse, a physicist who was one of the original scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project in the development of the atomic bomb, died on July 28 in Houston, where he lived. He was 98 and a former resident of Leonia, N.J.
Dr. Boorse, who received his Ph.D. in physics from Columbia in 1934, taught for more than three decades at Barnard College, where he was the dean of faculty for more than 20 years and the acting president in 1962 and 1967.
An expert on low-temperature physics, he was an initial member of the staff of a laboratory at Columbia University that was a unit of the Manhattan Project looking into the separating of uranium isotopes for producing a nuclear bomb.
Dr. Boorse was a consultant to the United States Atomic Energy Commission from 1946 to 1958 and to the Brookhaven National Laboratory from 1951 to 1955.
He and Lloyd Motz wrote a two-volume work, "The World of the Atom" (1966), and — with Jefferson Hane Weaver — a one-volume book, "The Atomic Scientists" (1989).
His wife, the former Margaret Hazelton, died in 1996. He is survived by a son, Ronald H., of Houston; and a daughter, Suzanne Remond of Kerrville, Tex.
New York, N.Y.— Henry A. Boorse, a leading authority on low temperature physics, part of the original group of scientists for the Manhattan Project, and a faculty member at Barnard College for over 30 years, died in Houston, Texas, on July 28, at the age of 98.
A respected research scientist, Boorse had a long and accomplished teaching career at Barnard and was the Dean of Faculty for over 20 years and Acting President before his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 1970. Boorse was also a consultant for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission during 1948-56.
Boorse was one of the founding members, along with Nobel Laureates Harold Urey and Enrico Fermi of SAM (Substitute Alloy Materials) Laboratory at Columbia University, which investigated the separation of uranium isotopes 235 and 238 for making an atomic bomb, and was part of the Manhattan Project. His research on liquefaction of hydrogen and helium and the properties of superconductors was supported by the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation.
Boorse published The World of the Atom, 2 volumes (1966), co-authored with Lloyd Motz; The Atomic Scientists (1989), as well as numerous scholarly articles in professional journals such as Physical Review, Review of Scientific Instruments, Proceedings of the Royal Society (London), Science, and Nature. Born on September 18, 1904, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Boorse graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 1926. Boorse received an M.A. in 1933 and Ph.D. in physics in 1934, both from Columbia University. He conducted post-doctoral research at Cambridge University in 1934-35 where he studied with Nobel Laureate Sir John Cock Croft at the Royal Society Mond Research Laboratories.
While studying at Columbia, Boorse met his wife Margaret Hazelton, who studied piano at Juilliard under pianist James Friskin. They were married in 1931 and lived in Leonia, N.J., until her death in 1996. Boorse then moved to Houston to live with his son, Ronald H. Boorse.
Boorse started his teaching career at Columbia University in 1931 and moved to City College of New York in 1935. He came to Barnard in 1937 as an Assistant Professor and taught until 1942, when he took a leave of absence to work for the government, and became District Director of the Manhattan Project to work on fusion separation research. After the war, Boorse returned to Barnard and was named professor in 1948. He was Dean of Faculty for over 20 years, and Acting President in 1962, and 1967, and Assistant to the President from 1970 to 1974.
Boorse received several honors and fellowships, including Barnard Fellow (1933); Lydig Fellow (1934-35); E.K. Adams Fellow (1938-40), Columbia University; Fellow, American Physical Society; Sigma Xi; and Phi Beta Kappa.
Boorse was a member of the American Physical Society; American Association of Physics Teachers; Ad Hoc Committee on the Absolute Temperature Scale, National Research Council; and a trustee of the Public Library of Leonia, New Jersey. Boorse was a collector of coins and antique prints and served as a treasurer and president of the American Historical Print Collectors Society.
No services will be held. Boorse’s body will be cremated and his ashes will be placed next to his wife Margaret in George Washington Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey. Besides his son, he is survived by a daughter, Suzanne Remond of Kerrville, Texas.
source: http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/newnews/news080603.html 9aug03
Henry A. Boorse, a physicist who took part in the Manhattan Project, which produced the atomic bombs that ended World War II, died Monday. He was 98.
Since 1996, Boorse had lived in Houston with his son, Ronald Boorse.
Most of Henry Boorse's academic life was spent in New York City at Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia University.
During the early days of the war, Boorse lived in Leonia, N.J., where among his neighbors were scientists Harold Urey and Enrico Fermi, key figures in development of the nuclear bomb.
Boorse's association with Urey and Fermi led him into the Manhattan Project, his son said.
"He was doing low-temperature physics and developing a low-temperature laboratory at Columbia. He was formally recruited by the government in 1942 and took leave from Barnard. He (became) district director of the Manhattan Project in New York," Ronald Boorse said.
Henry Boorse also worked at Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he was involved in fusion separation, which figured in developing the raw material for the explosives, his son said.
When these materials were ready, they were taken to Los Alamos, N.M., where work was proceeding on the bomb. Boorse did not attend the explosion of the first device.
After the war, Boorse returned to Barnard, where he was dean of the faculty from 1959 to 1970 and acting president in 1962 and 1967. He also was assistant to the president from 1970 to 1974. After 1970, Boorse was professor emeritus.
Boorse co-authored the two-volume The World of the Atom in 1966 and The Atomic Scientists in 1989.
A collector of coins and antique prints, Boorse served as president and treasurer of the American Historical Print Collectors Society. He published articles on historic houses in Philadelphia in the society's magazine Imprint, his son said.
Henry Abraham Boorse was born Sept. 18, 1904, in Norristown, Pa., the son of Henry Augustus Boorse, a druggist, and Martha Godshall Boorse.
In 1931, Boorse married Margaret Hazelton of Kansas City, Mo., whom he met in New York, where she was studying piano with pianist-composer James Friskin at the Juilliard School. After her death in 1996, Boorse came to Houston to live with his son.
Besides his son, Boorse leaves a daughter, Suzanne Remond of Kerrville.
No services will be held. Burial will be in George Washington Cemetery in Paramus, N.J.
source: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2020580 9aug03
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