Zalman Shapiro
Zalman Mordecai Shapiro (May 12, 1920 – July 16, 2016) was an American chemist and inventor. He received 15 patents, including a 2009 patent on a process to make commercial production of diamonds cheaper,[1] and played a key role in the development of the reactor that powered the world's first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus.[2][3]
Biography
[edit]Shapiro was born in Canton, Ohio, on May 12, 1920[4] to Abraham and Minnie (née Pinck) Shapiro.[4] He graduated from Passaic High School in New Jersey as the valedictorian in 1938.[5] He attended Johns Hopkins University, earning B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees in 1942, 1945, and 1948, respectively.[4]
Career
[edit]After completing his education, Shapiro moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and began a career in engineering and chemistry. He worked for Westinghouse Electric and the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, where he worked on developing the fuel for the first commercial nuclear power plant, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station.[3] He founded Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp. (NUMEC) in Apollo, Pennsylvania in 1957 to develop improved methods of processing nuclear fuel.[4][3] He was then investigated as part of the Apollo affair.
In 2009, at age 89, Shapiro filed a patent for a new process of synthesizing diamonds. His family nominated him for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, where he received "dozens of recommendation letters", but was not recognized. Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter lobbied the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Shapiro's behalf. The NRC responded to the senator by letter in November of that year, stating that the organization was unable to "unequivocally conclude that nuclear material was not diverted from [NUMEC] nor that all previously unaccounted for material was accounted for during the decommissioning of the site."[6]
Personal life
[edit]Shapiro married Evelyn Greenberg in 1945, and they have three children: Joshua, Ezra, and Deborah.[4] He was formerly the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Zionist Organization of America.[7] Shapiro and his wife were honored in 2008 for their contributions to the Jewish community for over 60 years.[8] He lived in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh,[9] where he died at the age of 96.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ "Inventor, 89, has his eye on diamonds". Marketplace. June 16, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
- ^ Unna, Warren Unna (February 21, 1957). "Atom Contract Is Called Faulty". The Washington Post and Times-Herald. p. A11.
- ^ a b c Thomas, Mary Ann; Santanam, Ramesh (August 28, 2002). "NUMEC made significant advancements". Valley News Dispatch. Retrieved June 17, 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c d e Who's Who in America - 2008 (62 ed.). 2007.
- ^ Brown, Geoff (August 27, 2009). "Patent Success". Johns Hopkins Magazine. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
- ^ Johnson, Scott (March 23, 2015). "What Lies Beneath". Foreign Policy.
- ^ "ZOA brings Catholic schools to Holocaust Museum". Jewish Chronicle. April 12, 2001. p. 1.
- ^ "ZOA honors Del Duca, Shapiros for their lifetime achievements". Jewish Chronicle. October 23, 2008. p. 4.
- ^ Jin, Liyun (June 26, 2009). "89-year-old Oakland inventor receives 15th patent". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved July 5, 2009.
- ^ Thomas, Mary Ann (July 18, 2016). "Scientist developed nuclear fuel for USS Nautilus". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on August 9, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
Further reading
[edit]- U.S. patent 7,547,358 - System and method for diamond deposition using a liquid-solvent carbon-transfer mechanism
- Thomas, Mary Ann (June 20, 2010). "NUMEC cleanup to begin after decades of wrangling". TRIBLive News. Retrieved October 23, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- Thomas, Mary Ann (May 9, 2011). "Army Corps to detail cleanup of Parks NUMEC nuclear site". TRIBLive News. Retrieved October 23, 2011.[permanent dead link]
- Rittmeyer, Brian C. (October 18, 2011). "Nuclear cleanup stopped in Parks Township". TRIBLive News. Archived from the original on October 31, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2011.
- Johnson, Scott C. (2015). "What lies beneath". Foreign Policy, April–May 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
- 1920 births
- 2016 deaths
- American chemists
- 20th-century American inventors
- 20th-century American Jews
- Passaic High School alumni
- People from Passaic, New Jersey
- People from Canton, Ohio
- Scientists from Pittsburgh
- Johns Hopkins University alumni
- 21st-century American Jews
- American Zionists
- American nuclear engineers