A Top Chemist

Edward F. Hammel '39 has been selected as recipient of the American Chemical Society's California Section Award for 1955. A gold medal, honoring his work in chemistry as outstanding in eleven Western states, was presented during a section meeting of the society at the University of California, Berkeley, on October 10. Dr. Hammel addressed a distinguished gathering of scientists on "Helium 3 and Its Relationship to the Problem of Liquid Helium."

Dr. Hammel has been on the staff of the University of California's Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory since 1944, going there soon after he received the Ph.D. degree from Princeton. There he began his work with the Manhattan Engineer District, on the process of separation of heavy water. For the past seven years he has been primarily concerned with the low temperature properties of Helium 3. He is leader of the cryogenics group of the Laboratory's Chemistry and Metallurgy Division.

In 1946 Dr. Hammel was awarded a certificate of service and silver lapel pin from the War Department for his work in the atomic bomb program.