EDWIN RUSSELL
(1913-1996)
Inventor of the isolation of Plutonium from uranium Patented
Manhattan Project
Education
B.S. degree, 1935 from Benedict College
M.S. degree in chemistry, 1937 Howard University
Ph.D, University of Chicago
Russell was Born in Columbia, South Carolina on June 19, 1913, the middle child of Nathan and Mary Russell.
Russell earned his B.S. degree in 1935 from Benedict College, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Columbia, South Carolina. Russell continued his education at Howard University where he earned an M.S. degree in chemistry in 1937. Russell worked as an instructor in the Chemistry Department at Howard University from 1936 to 1942 before entering the University of Chicago to pursue a Ph.D. in surface chemistry.
He was recruited in 1942 to help work on the top secret project name THE MANHATTAN PROJECT. There he assisted with the lead development of the first atomic bomb. The techniques he created were for the purifying of Uranium Ore and isolating an unknown element later called Plutonium. After the project, he returned home and began teaching at Allen University for five years. Later he would work for 22 years as a research chemist.
Patents AcquiredRussell later obtained eleven U.S. patents including two focused on the processes of isolating plutonium from uranium (U.S. Patent 2,855,629, Oct. 7, 1958; U.S. Patent 2,992,249, July 11, 1961). After World War II, Russell served as Chair and Professor of the Division of Science at Allen University in Columbia South Carolina from 1947 to 1953. He then was employed as a Research Chemist at E.I. DuPont’s Savannah River Nuclear Laboratory in Aiken, South Carolina from 1953 to 1976. While working at DuPont, Russell focused on a number of projects including the treatment of radioactive waste, and wrote several classified publications in the field of nuclear energy. He also served as a contributing editor to the National Nuclear Energy Series. Russell retired from the DuPont Nuclear Laboratory in 1976.
Honors and Awards
Edwin Russell was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the American Chemical Society (ACS). In 1974, he received an honorary doctorate from Benedict College. He married Dorothy (Nance) Russell. The couple had a daughter, Vivian Eleanor Russell Baker.
Death
Edwin Roberts Russell died on Easter Sunday, April 7, 1996, in Columbia, South Carolina. He was 82. Shortly after his death, the South Carolina Legislature honored his memory by introducing a resolution that celebrated his achievements and stated that Edwin Roberts Russell was “one of South Carolina’s ablest and most distinguished leaders.”