by Wornie Reed, Ph.D.
Director, Race and Social Policy, Professor, Sociology & Africana Studies, Virginia Tech
As we join the chorus of people trying to push more African-Americans into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields of study let us not assume that African-Americans have not pursued these fields in the past. More than a few have done so, and some have done so with significant distinction.
One such person was J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. Let us recognize this outstanding scientist during this Black History Month.
Wilkins (1923-2011) was a prominent African American mathematician and physicist who worked at the University of Chicago Met Lab during the Manhattan Project. The Manhattan Project was the research and development mission during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons.
Wilkins was a prodigy. He entered the University of Chicago in 1936 at the age of 13, becoming one of the youngest students to ever attend the university. Within six years he obtained three degrees in mathematics (BA in 1940, MS in 1941, and Ph.D. in 1942).
After graduation, Wilkins taught mathematics at the Tuskegee Institute before joining the University of Chicago Met Lab in 1944. Working in collaboration with Arthur Compton and Enrico Fermi, Wilkins researched methods for producing fissionable nuclear materials, focusing in particular on plutonium.
Like many scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, Wilkins was interested in the potential peaceful applications of atomic energy. In 1945 Wilkins, along with seventy other Manhattan Project scientists working at the Met Lab, signed a petition to President Truman.
The petition argued for restraint in the use of atomic bombs: “The war has to be brought speedily to a successful conclusion and attacks by atomic bombs may very well be an effective method of warfare. We feel, however, that such attacks on Japan could not be justified, at least not until the terms which will be imposed after the war on Japan were made public in detail, and Japan were given an opportunity to surrender.”
As he worked on the Manhattan Project Wilkens’ contributions to nuclear-reactor physics included a discovery since known as the Wilkins effect. From 1950 to 1960 he worked at the Nuclear Development Corporation of America (NDA). During this time he continued his education at New York University, obtaining a BA in mechanical engineering in 1957 and an MA in the same field in 1960.
In 1970 Wilkins became the Distinguished Professor of Applied Mathematical Physics at Howard University and founded the university’s doctoral program in mathematics.
Wilkins had a long and distinguished career in nuclear physics, including serving as president of the American Nuclear Society, 1974-1975. The American Nuclear Society (ANS) is the premier professional society serving the nuclear industry, with a membership of approximately 11,000 scientists, engineers, educators, students, and other associate members.
Wilkens received many awards during his 61-year career; however, an honor from his first alma mater might stand out. Room 209, aka the “Tea Room,” in Eckhart Hall at the University of Chicago is a place of mathematics department gatherings, historically presided over by a portrait of the department’s founding chairperson. However, in 2007 a portrait of J. Ernest Wilkens, Jr. was prominently added to the wall.
