Walker Bleakney

Walker Bleakney (February 8, 1901 – January 15, 1992) was an American physicist, one of inventors of mass spectrometers, and widely noted for his research in the fields of atomic physics, molecular physics, fluid dynamics, the ionization of gases, and blast waves. Bleakney was the chair of the department of physics at Princeton University. He was the head of the Princeton Ballistic Project during World War II.

Career Bleakney graduated from Whitman College in 1924 with a BS degree. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1930. then as an instructor in 1932. Bleakney became the chair of the department of physics in 1960, and remained in that capacity until 1967. In a team with other Princeton physicists he produced tritium in 1934.

Awards and Distinctions Walker Bleakney was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1959 National Research Council Fellow, 1930–32 Citations for World War II research Honorary D.Sc., Whitman College, 1955 American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1963 Cyrus Fogg Bracket Professor of Physics, Princeton University, 1953 Class of 1909 Professor of Physics, Princeton University, 1963