Photoessay #1246 - ORSORT (again)

I wrote about this previously In October 2007.

This promotional booklet dated Oct 1, 1954, was likely used to recruit students to this elite program. Post WWII, nuclear engineering was considered extremely important and universities had not had enough time to develop their own programs. So this school was established at Oak Ridge National labs.

From Wikipedia

Oak Ridge National Laboratory ORSORT was the successor of the school known locally as the Klinch Kollege of Knuclear Knowledge, later shorten to Clinch College. ORSORT was authorized and financed by the U.S. government and founded in 1950 by Admiral Hyman G. Rickover and Alvin Weinberg. During its existence, the school was the only educational venue in the U.S. from where a comprehensive twelve month education and training in either "Reactor Hazards Analysis" or "Reactor Operations" could be obtained, with accompanying certificates. Funding ended and the school was closed in 1965, shortly after authorization was extended to select U.S. universities to develop their own Nuclear Engineering curricula. Housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, this unique venue and its renowned instructors offered its students the highest level of education of practical applications of atomic energy available at the time, and first-hand exposure to a variety of nuclear reactor designs including the legendary first graphite reactor, pool reactor, high temperature gas reactor, molten salt reactor, fast reactor and high flux reactor.

I have a list of the 1952-53 class including their sponsor. 81 names. All male. Likely all white. My father would have considered himself white. His classification was "Mech. Engr/Aero Engr". His universty is listed "Cornell U/Harvard U" which would be correct. His sponsor as "Aerojet Engr. Corp". So Aerojet sent him. He worked for Aeroject until 1974. Interesting coincidence: My father lost his job as part of the big aerospace contraction in 1974. He then went to work for Sundstrand Corp in Rockford Illinois (which is how my parents ended up in Rockford). Sundstrand had a big facility in Seattle so sometimes my father would visit me on business trips. Sundstrand was bought by Hamilton (?) and though I may not have some of the corporate machinations wrong, parts of Sundstrand in Seattle became Aerojet. And Matt mentioned engineering internship at Aerojet. Which seems circular; what goes around, comes around.

The other sponsors include

Pratt and Whitney
Newport News Shipbuilding
AEC Chicago
Mine Safety Appliance Co
Bonneville Power Adm.
Electric Boat Company
Convair
Westinghouse Elec. Co.
etc

After our tour, we stopped at the Y-12 complex to look at their historical exhibit. Y-12 is a huge facility that produces materials for nuclear weapons??? Among other things. We perused a lot of historical materials and they gave us some dvds including pictures and some film programs I haven't watched yet. But nothing in the exhibit about the reactor school.

I could look up the names on the list but I fear I would mainly find obituaries...

Notice my father's distinctive signature at the top. I never could read his handwriting...