Joseph Eldrid Burke

Joseph Eldrid Burke (1 September 1914 – 29 February 2000) was an American metallurgist and material scientist who specialized in ceramics.

Life Burke was born on September 1, 1914, in Berkeley, California to Charles Eldrid and Ruth Enid Burke. He was married two times, first to Kathleen Mary Wilson and for a second time to Marjorie Ridgway Burke. He died in Schenectady, New York on February 29, 2000.

Education In 1938, he graduated from the McMaster University, located in Canada. He completed his Ph.D. in ceramic science at Cornell University in 1940.

Career He worked for the International Nickel Company and the Norton Company.

During World War II, he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he helped design, build, and manage a new systematic process for the preparation of plutonium nitrate and its conversion to bomb cores.

Awards and honours Burke was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1976. He was a member, past president (1974), and Distinguished Life Member (1982) of The American Ceramic Society.