Chairman, United State Atomic Energy Commission
1965
Citation:
"And they shall turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war." (Isaias, 2:4) If we were to blazon an escutcheon for Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg, these words from the prophet Isaias would serve as a fitting motto. As chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission since 1961, Dr. Seaborg has labored intensely to turn the atomic sword and the nuclear spear into the ploughshare and sickle of peace. His "Atoms for Peace" program, conceived with the lofty and noble ideal of a universal sharing by all mankind in the benefits of the peaceful uses of atomic and nuclear energy, has helped set the guidelines for American nuclear policy. Born in Michigan, at Ishpeming, educated in chemistry at the University of California at Los Angeles and Berkeley, Dr. Seaborg's academic life, except for a wartime stint at Chicago on the Manhattan project, has been spent at Berkeley. With his colleagues he has identified more than one hundred isotopes of elements. He is responsible, too, for the discovery of Americium, element 95 and has the unique distinction of having been awarded a patent for a synthetic element, Curium, element 96. In a career with many peaks an important pinnacle was reached in 1951 when Dr. Seaborg was named a Noble Prize laureate in chemistry. Dr. Seaborg's sense of civic responsibility led him to accept membership on he first General Advisory Committee of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1946 and on the President's Advisory Committee in 1959. It made him accept the Chairmanship of the Atomic Energy Commission in 1961. In addition to their Dr. Seaborg served for three years as Chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley from 1958-1961. As a scientist, an educator, and a civic leader, Dr. Seaborg has displayed the superlative qualities which have merited him the highest honor and respect, not only of his fellow Americans but of the whole word. Reverend President, it is my privilege to present Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg for the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science. Commencement, University of Detroit, June 5, 1965.