Profile: George Warren Reed, Ph.D., Manhattan Project Chemist • Nuclear & Lunar Scientist 

Chemist • Nuclear Geochemist • Manhattan Project Scientist 

Before George Warren Reed, Jr. helped scientists understand the composition of the Moon, he was part of the wartime generation of Black scientists working on one of the most consequential scientific projects in American history. During World War II, Reed worked at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory—the Chicago Met Lab—where his research involved uranium and thorium and their potential to sustain a nuclear chain reaction. His work contributed to the larger scientific effort behind the Manhattan Project.

Reed's scientific career did not end with the Atomic Age. After earning his doctorate, he continued research at Argonne National Laboratory, studying radiation patterns associated with uranium and plutonium. Later, his attention turned from the atom to the universe. He became part of the scientific effort to analyze lunar material returned by the Apollo missions, helping investigate what Moon rocks could reveal about the Moon, meteorites, and the history of the solar system.

George Warren Reed, Jr.'s story reminds us that Black scientists were present at critical moments in twentieth-century science—from the development of nuclear research during World War II to the exploration of the universe.

Overview:

George Warren Reed, Jr. (1920 -1015) was an American chemist whose career connected two of the twentieth century's most important scientific eras: the Atomic Age and the Space Age. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1920, Reed earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Howard University before joining the Manhattan Project during World War II. He worked at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory, where he studied fission yields involving uranium and thorium and helped investigate their potential in sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.

After the war, Reed earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1952 and continued his research career at Argonne National Laboratory. His work later expanded into geochemistry, meteorites, and lunar science. He helped analyze Moon rocks returned by NASA's Apollo missions and received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1977. Over the course of his career, Reed published more than 120 scientific papers.

Primary Source Spotlight:

Research, Publication, and Scientific Ambition

These three images document George W. Reed’s early scientific career during and immediately after the Manhattan Project. The first shows Reed conducting laboratory research at the University of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, where he worked during the Manhattan Project. The center image is the first page of his 1947 research paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, providing direct evidence of his work as a published scientist. The third is Reed’s 1946 Julius Rosenwald Fund fellowship application, in which he identified chemistry as his field and described his proposed research in nuclear chemistry. Together, the images show Reed working in a major wartime laboratory, publishing scientific research, and pursuing advanced study—evidence of a scientific career that was already well underway before 1964.

Quick Facts:

• Born: September 25, 1920, in Washington, D.C.

• Died: August 31, 2015, in Chicago, Illinois.

• Field: Chemistry, including nuclear chemistry and geochemistry.

• Education: B.S. and M.S. in chemistry from Howard University.

• Doctorate: Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago, 1952.

• World War II: Worked on the Manhattan Project at the Chicago Met Lab.

• Manhattan Project research: Studied fission yields of uranium and thorium and their viability for a nuclear chain reaction.

• Argonne: Continued research involving radiation patterns of uranium and plutonium.

• Space science: Helped analyze lunar material returned by the Apollo missions.

• Recognition: Received NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1977.

• Publications: Published more than 120 scientific papers during his career.

• One of about 140 scientists from around the world chosen to investigate moon samples from the Apollo space missions.

Why This Story Matters:

George Warren Reed, Jr. matters because his career challenges the idea that Black Americans were absent from the most important scientific developments of the twentieth century. Reed was one of the relatively few African American scientists documented as working on the Manhattan Project. His research at the Chicago Met Lab involved questions about uranium, thorium, and nuclear chain reactions at a time when such knowledge was central to the wartime atomic program.

His importance also extends far beyond the Manhattan Project. Reed continued to build knowledge in nuclear chemistry and later helped scientists study material brought back from the Moon. His career moved from investigating the smallest parts of matter to examining evidence about the origins of the Moon and the solar system. In doing so, Reed became part of both the Atomic Age and the Space Age.

Legacy:

George Warren Reed, Jr.'s legacy cannot be limited to one laboratory, one scientific discipline, or even one historic era. He was part of the generation of Black scientists whose contributions helped shape twentieth-century science while their names often remained outside the best-known accounts of scientific history.

During World War II, Reed worked on research involving uranium and thorium at the Chicago Met Lab, contributing to the larger scientific effort to understand and sustain nuclear chain reactions. He was one of the relatively few African American scientists documented as participating in the Manhattan Project. Yet the secrecy surrounding that work meant that, like many of his colleagues, he could say little publicly about the details of what he had done.

Reed continued building on his scientific training long after the war. At Argonne National Laboratory, he investigated radiation patterns involving uranium and plutonium. Later, he turned his attention toward geochemistry, meteorites, and lunar science. His career eventually carried him into another defining scientific enterprise: the exploration of the Moon. As part of the group of scientists selected to study Apollo lunar samples, Reed helped examine material from beyond Earth and contributed to research on the Moon's composition, origin, and relationship to the history of the solar system.

That journey—from the wartime study of nuclear materials to the scientific analysis of Moon rocks—is what makes Reed's career especially remarkable. He participated in two of the twentieth century's greatest scientific transformations: the development of nuclear science during the Atomic Age and the expansion of human knowledge during the Space Age.

Reed also left behind an extensive body of scientific work, publishing more than 120 papers and earning NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his contributions to lunar research.

His story reminds us that Black scientists were not standing outside the laboratories where history was being made. George Warren Reed, Jr. was there—studying the atom during World War II, advancing nuclear and geochemical research after the war, and helping scientists examine material brought back from the Moon. His career stretched from the Manhattan Project to Apollo, from uranium to lunar rock, and from the Atomic Age to the Space Age.

Discussion Questions:

1. George Reed worked on the Manhattan Project, but much of the work was secret. How might secrecy make it difficult for historians to fully understand the contributions of individual scientists?

2. Reed studied nuclear materials and later helped analyze Moon rocks. What skills or scientific habits might have helped him move successfully between such different areas of research?

3. Imagine that you could add one new class to your school that every student could take. What would you teach, and why would you want other students to learn it? 

Reflection Prompt:

1. George Warren Reed, Jr. worked on scientific advances that shaped the world around him. If you could learn one skill today that you believe could be useful to you or to other people in the future, what would you choose, and why? 

Sources & Further Reading:

1. “George W. Reed Jr. (1920–2011).” BlackPast. Website. 

2. “George W. Reed, Manhattan Project Scientist, Dies.” Chicago Tribune. Newspaper. October 5, 2015. 

3. “George Warren Reed.” Manhattan Project Voices. Website. 

4. “George Warren Reed.” Atomic Heritage Foundation. Website. 

5. “George Warren Reed’s Interview, 2006.” Atomic Heritage Foundation. Website. 

6. George Warren Reed, Jr. “Fellowship Application of George Warren Reed, Jr.” Document. Julius Rosenwald Fund Archives, Fisk University. 

7. R. Percy Barnes and George W. Reed. “A Study of the Direction of Enolization of p-Methoxybenzoylmesitoylmethane.” Journal of the American Chemical Society. 1947. American Chemical Society. 

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