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History @ Los Alamos

World War II 

The Cold War 

  •   Photo of navy ships in a military maneuverWeapons
    • Hydrogen Bomb Development
  •   Photo of the mushroom cloud of the Hydrogen Bomb MikeTest: atmos.
  •   Scientific illustration of a fusion weapon in cross-sectionTest: under.
    • JULIN: The Last Test Series
  •   Photo of John F. Kennedy speaking at Los AlamosArms Control
    • Arms Control Treaties

Research 

  •   Photo of crater left as a result of an underground test at the Nevada Test SiteEnergy
    • Hot Dry Rock
  •   Image of gamma ray pulses detected by Vela satellites Defense
    • Stockpile Stewardship
    • Nonproliferation
  •   Image of a graphic chart reflecting the decrease in the nuclear weapons stockpileComputing
    • Supercomputing
  •   Photo of supercomputers used to simulate nuclear weapons testingBasic Science
    • Astrophysics

Siegfried S. Hecker joined the Laboratory as a technical staff member of the Physical Metallurgy Group in 1973. He had previously been a postdoctoral appointee at the Laboratory following the receipt of his Ph.D. in Metallurgy from Case Western Reserve University. He served as Chairman of the Center for Materials Science and Division Leader of the Materials Science and Technology Division before his appointment as Director in 1986.

Dr. Hecker received his B.S. in Metallurgy in 1965, his M.S. in Metallurgy in 1967, and his Ph.D. in Metallurgy in 1968, all from Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Hecker is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Society for Metals. Among the awards Dr. Hecker has received are the Department of Energy's Distinguished Associate Award; the ASM Distinguished Life Membership Award; the Aviation Week Group Laurels Award for National Security; the James O. Douglas Gold Medal Award; the Year's Top 100 Innovations Award from Science Digest (1985); and the Department of Energy's E. O. Lawrence Award.. He is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Fraternity, Alpha Mu Honorary Metallurgical Fraternity, and the Society of Sigma Xi and an Honorary Member of the American Ceramics Society (1993). Dr. Hecker was inducted as a Fellow of the Materials Society, 1998.