Siegfried Hecker

Siegfried S. Hecker

Siegfried Hecker in 2011
Born October 2, 1943
Tomaszew, Poland
Nationality Austrian-Polish-American
Fields Metallurgical Engineering
Institutions Los Alamos National Laboratory
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Stanford University
Alma mater Case Western Reserve University
(B.Sc.), (M.Sc.), (Ph.D.)
Known for Nuclear weapons, Nuclear proliferation, Nuclear strategy
Notable awards Enrico Fermi Award, Seaborg Medal USDOE Distinguished Associate Award, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

Siegfried S. Hecker is an American nuclear scientist and metallurgist who served as the Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1986 till 1997. Austrian by birth, he is a Professor (research) in the Department of Management Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering and a Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies of Stanford University. He formerly served as Co-Director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation from 2007-2012.[1][2]

Biography

Siegfried S. Hecker while director of Los Alamos National Laboratory

Hecker's parents came from Sarajevo, Bosnia and were moved during World War II to Tomasow, where Hecker was born.[3] When his father had not returned from the war at the Eastern Front, his mother remarried and settled in Rottenmann, Austria.[3] The family emigrated to the US in 1956. Hecker completed his Bachelor of Science in Metallurgy in 1965, his Master of Science in Metallurgy in 1967, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Metallurgical Engineering in 1968, all from Case Western Reserve University. Hecker began his professional career as a senior research metallurgist with the General Motors Research Laboratories in 1970 after two years as a postdoctoral appointee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Siegfried S. Hecker visiting the disabled Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center, North Korea, in 2008

Hecker first came to Stanford University as a visiting professor in 2005. In 2007 he became co-director of the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He also acts as advisor to the Nuclear Threat Initiative board of directors and belongs to the advisory council of CRDF Global, an independent nonprofit organization that promotes international scientific and technical collaboration.

Visits to North Korea

He has visited North Korea frequently in an unofficial capacity to assess the plutonium program at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center (once every year since 2004).[4][5] In November 2010 Hecker visited the Yongbyon nuclear facility and reported on its advanced state.[6]

Awards

His achievements have been recognized with the American Nuclear Society's Seaborg Medal and many other awards including the Navy League of the U.S.'s TR & FD Roosevelt Gold Medal for Science Award in 1996. The Secretary of Energy named Hecker, Lab director from 1986–1997 and a Los Alamos senior fellow until 2005, co-recipient of the 2009 Enrico Fermi Award. This Presidential Award is one of the oldest and most prestigious given by the U.S. Government and carries an honorarium of $375,000. He shares the honor with John Bannister Goodenough, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

References

  1. ↑ Mahncy Mehrotra (February 16, 2007). "Hecker will co-direct CISAC". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
  2. ↑ Beth Duff-Brown (October 9, 2012). CISAC news names Stanford biosecurity effort as next co-director http://cisac.stanford.edu/news/cisac_names_stanford_biosecurity_expert_as_next_codirector_20120917/=CISAC names Stanford biosecurity effort as next co-director. Retrieved 2013-01-28. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 LA National Laboratory (August–September 1997). "Reflections (Issue about S. Hecker)". p. 16. Retrieved November 23, 2010.
  4. ↑ Siegfried S. Hecker (21 January 2004). "Visit to the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center in North Korea". LA-UR-04-0340. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
  5. ↑ Siegfried S. Hecker (May–June 2008). "Denuclearizing North Korea". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) 64 (2): 44. doi:10.2968/064002011. Retrieved 2008-09-24.
  6. ↑ Siegfried Hecker (November 20, 2010). "North Korea's Yongbyon Nuclear Complex, a Report by Siegfried Hecker". Retrieved November 23, 2010.

Publications

External links

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