Harley A. Wilhelm

Harley A. Wilhelm (August 5, 1900 – October 7, 1995) was an American chemist who helped to establish the United States Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University. His uranium extraction process helped make it possible for the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bombs.

Early life Harley A. Wilhelm was born on a farm near Ellston, Iowa, on August 5, 1900, one of seven children of Bert Clement and Annie Bell Wilhelm. He attended Ellston High School, where he was a varsity athlete as a freshman. He earned all-state athletic honors in his senior year. He graduated from Ellston High School in 1919, and entered Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on an athletic scholarship. At Drake he played as a forward on the basketball team and a halfback on the football team. He was also a pitcher on the baseball team. He became interested in chemistry, and was awarded a fellowship to Iowa State College to study it there, but returned to Drake, where he received his Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) degree in 1923.

After graduation, Wilhelm joined the faculty of the Intermountain Union College in Helena, Montana, where he taught chemistry and coached the football team. His coaching efforts were unsuccessful, and he returned to Iowa State as a graduate assistant, becoming an instructor in chemistry in 1929. He then joined the Iowa State faculty, becoming an assistant professor in 1940, and associate professor in 1944, and ultimately a full professor in 1945. He continued to play baseball, pitching for Ames Merchant, a semi-professional team for many years.

Wilhelm died in the Story City Memorial Hospital on October 7, 1995. He was survived by his daughters, Lorna Livingston, Gretchen Wilhelm and Myrna Elliott, and his son, Max Wilhelm. His wife Orpha Lutton Wilhelm died in 1991.