1959 Seaborg Award: John E. Willard

John Ela Willard was a graduate of Harvard University. Upon graduation he taught briefly at Haverford College before moving on to the University of Wisconsin where he spent the bulk of his academic career. His specialty was Hot Atom Chemistry and he was one of the scientists actively engaged upon the Manhattan Project where he studied various materials to determine which best adsorbed (gathered on its surface) plutonium.

He was an active member of the Wisconsin Section of the ACS and at one point served as Chairman of the ACS Division of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry. He was also active in the affairs of IUPAC and served as Secretary of its Nuclear Chemistry Section.

Inventor of “Willard Water.”