Reed Magazine: August 2000 > News of the Alumni Association

John Simpson '40 has led a distinguished career as a groundbreaking scientist as well as an outspoken activist for international scientific cooperation on nuclear proliferation. From 1943 until 1946 Simpson participated in the Manhattan Project as a scientific group leader at the University of Chicago's "Metallurgical Laboratory"-the code name for the devel-opment of the plutonium technology for an atomic bomb that culminated in the first nuclear chain reaction on December 2, 1942. Out of this work stemmed Simpson's personal concern for the use of nuclear weapons.

Simpson is also one of the pioneers of the scientific exploration of space. He has designed scientific instruments for over 30 space missions, including the Pioneer 10 and 11 missions to Jupiter and Saturn and spacecraft that journeyed to Mercury, Venus, and Mars. Simpson's current research includes experiments on the Ulysses spacecraft to measure isotopic and elemental composition of the galactic cosmic radiation in order to determine their nucleosynthetic origins and their lifetime in galactic magnetic fields.

In 1974 he became the A. H. Compton Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1945. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, Simpson directed the Fermi Institute from 1973 to 1978 and has been awarded numerous honors. In 1999 he won the Leo Szilard Lectureship Award from the American Physical Society, recognizing him for "his leading role in educating scientists, members of Congress, and the public on the importance of civilian control of nuclear policy." In 1996 Simpson was elected to membership in the mathematical and physical science division of the American Philosophical Society.

Alumni president Sally Snyder Brunette '83 presented Laurens Ruben, Kenan Professor Emeritus of Biology and honorary alumnus, with the Babson Society outstanding volunteer award
His other awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship; the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement; the Gagarin Medal for Space Exploration, USSR Academy of Sciences; the COSPAR Science Medal, United Nations; the Bruno Rossi Prize; and the first Norman Maclean Faculty Award for his contributions to teaching and student experience at the University of Chicago. When Simpson received the Arctowski Medal from the National Academy of Sciences in 1993, he donated the entire $80,000 to Reed's physics department and annual fund.

Other important awards distributed during reunions included the Babson Society outstanding volunteer award to Laurens Ruben, Kenan Professor Emeritus of Biology. In addition, volunteer service certificates were awarded to Steven Ko '93, admission; Karen Belsey '85, career services; Chris Namtze '75, develop-ment; and June Anderson '49, Johanna Colgrove '92, Peter Mason '79, and Michael Redden '76, alumni programs.