Edwin Roberts Russell (1913 – 1996) – Separation of plutonium from uranium
During World War II, Edwin Roberts Russell was one of the chemists working on the Manhattan Project at the Metallurgical Laboratory of the University of Chicago, a secret government-funded research to develop the atomic bomb. The project eventually led to the development of two types of atomic bombs, known to history as the Little Boy and Fat Man, used in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
Russel held eleven patents for nuclear energy, including a method for separating plutonium from uranium and ion exchange absorption for plutonium separation. His works contributed significantly to the advancement of nuclear technology.