Elwood R. Batzel

Obituary

Class of 1940 

1922 – July 30, 2000

Nuclear chemist Roger Batzel; headed Livermore lab

SAN FRANCISCO—Roger E. Batzel, a nuclear chemist and former director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, has died. He was 78.

Mr.  Batzel died Saturday at a hospital in San Ramon, Calif., five days after a heart attack. Mr. Batzel was the laboratory’s sixth director, from 1971 to 1988. Livermore is now operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Mr. Batzel joined the staff in 1953, a year after Livermore opened, and was both a manager and a researcher throughout his career. High energy nuclear reactions were among his principal interests. He was named head of the chemistry department in 1959. As an associate director, he led nuclear testing, space reactors, and biomedical sections for Livermore.

“He played a crucial role in the growth and transition of our lab from a defense and nuclear facility to a multiprogram institution dedicated to solving the important scientific issues of our time,” said Bruce Tarter, the current director. When Mr. Batzel took over as director, the laboratory had 5,400 employees and a budget of $128 million. When he retired in 1988, there were 8,000 employees and a budget of $815 million.

Founded at the site of the former Livermore Naval Air Station, the laboratory was part of the U.S. response to the Soviet nuclear weapons program. Recently, it has turned to applying its work to fields like ecology.

Roger Elwood Batzel was born in Weiser, Idaho. He graduated in chemical engineering from the University of Idaho in 1947 and received a Ph.D. in nuclear chemistry from the University of California in 1951. His mentor at Berkeley was Glenn T. Seaborg, who shared the Nobel Prize in chemistry that year and later served as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

Survivors include Mr. Batzel’s wife, Edwina; two daughters; and a son.

From Chicago Tribune – August 4, 2000 – Page 205