Canada's Nuclear Pioneers

There have been many Canadians amongst the pioneers in nuclear science, medicine, technology, geology and administration (even politics).   The following is a limited list of brief biographies and links for a few of Canada's nuclear pioneers and players, including some non-Canadians who worked in Canada and contributed to Canadian nuclear science and technology, and some Canadians who moved abroad to work.

Entries marked with an asterisk * are those mentioned in George Laurence's work Early Years of Nuclear Energy Research in Canada

The CNS tries to ensure accuracy in the following articles, many of which were compiled from other sources (newspapers, alumni magazines, obituaries, etc.), but there may be mistakes.   If you find any errors, have any additions, or would like to send a write-up or link for other Canadian nuclear pioneers (there are many), please

• Bertram Brockhouse, 1918 - 2003
• Allan Bromley, 1926 - 2005
• Gordon L. Brooks, 1930 - 2003
• Harriet Brooks, 1876 - 1933
• André J. Cipriani, 1908 - 1956
• John Douglas Cockroft, 1897 - 1967 *
• Eugene (Gene) Critoph, 1929 - 2006
• Arthur Jeffrey Dempster, 1886 - 1950. Photo
• Lloyd George Elliot, 1919 - 1970 *
• Sylvia O. Fedoruk, 1927 -
• John S. Foster, 1921 - 2001
• Douglas James Gordon, 1920 - 2000
• Bertrand Goldschmidt, 1912 - 2002 *
• James Lorne Gray, 1913 - 1987 *
• Jules Guéron, 1907-1990 *
• Geoffrey Chalmers Hanna, 1920 - 1998 *
• Robert (Bob) Hart, 1927 - 1998
• Gerhard Herzberg, 1904 - 1999
• Clarence Decatur Howe, 1886 - 1960 *
• Donald G. Hurst, 1911 - 1999 *
• Harold Elford Johns, 1915 - 1998
• Franc Renault Joubin, 1911 - 1997 and at the Canadian Hall of Mining Fame. En français ici.
• David A. Keys, 1890 - 1977 *
• George J. Klein, 1904 - 1992 * and also on the Govenment of Canada's Canada Heirloom Series website. A book on Klein's life was written to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth.
• Lew Kowarski, 1907 - 1979: "Lew Kowarski et le développement de l’énergie nucléaire" * par Jules Guéron *
• Charles L. LaBine from Pembroke Observer, May 2004
• Gilbert A. LaBine, Feb 10 1890 (Westmeath) - June 8 1977 (Toronto). En français ici.
• George Craig Laurence, 1905 - 1987 *
  • Also see Laurence's Early Years of Nuclear Energy Research in Canada ou Le début de la recherche nucléaire au Canada
  • An early image of George Laurence, courtesy of the National Research Council of Canada Archives
• Wilfrid Bennett Lewis, 1908 - 1987 *
• Chalmers Jack Mackenzie, 1888-1984 *
• Alan Nunn May, 1911 - 2003 *
• Frank Morgan *
• Bruno Pontecorvo, 1913 - 1993 *
• Maurice Pryce, 1913 - 2003 *
• John Robson, 1920 - 2000
• Ernest Rutherford 1871 - 1937
  • The Rutherford Museum at McGill University.
• Louis Siminovitch, 1920 - *
• Louis Slotin, 1910 - 1946
• J.W.T. Spinks, 1908 - 1997 *
• Edgar William Richard Steacie, 1900 - 1962 *
• Frank Stern, 1924 - 2004
• Robert Spencer Stone, 1895 - 1966
• George Paget Thomson, 1892 - 1975 *
• Henry George Thode, 1910 - 1997 *
• George Michael Volkoff, 1914 - 2000 *
• Carl H. Westcott, 1912 - 1977 *
• Leo Yaffe, 1916 - 1997 *
• Lucas Yamamoto, 1928 - 2003
• Walter Zinn, 1907 - 2000

The Canadian Association of Physicists produced a special edition of the CAP journal "Physics in Canada", titled A Century of Physics in Canada in March/April 2000.

Also, there are many biographies and additional details in the highly recommended The Development of Nuclear Reactor Theory in the Montreal Laboratory of the National Research Council of Canada (Division of Atomic Energy) 1943-1946 by M.M.R. Williams. See also Canadian and British Early Atomic Energy Reports (1940-1946) for additional links related to Williams' project.