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J. Robert Oppenheimer

J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.

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J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American physicist born in 1904 and died in 1967. He was a member of the Royal Society, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Phi Beta Kappa Society. Oppenheimer participated in the Manhattan Project and received the Enrico Fermi Award, the Knight of the Legion of Honour, the Medal for Merit, and the Three Physicists Prize.

He was educated at Harvard University, Harvard College, Jesus College, and the Cavendish Laboratory. His doctoral advisor was Max Born, and his students included David Bohm, Samuel W. Alderson, Robert F. Christy, and Sidney Dancoff. Oppenheimer studied under Percy Williams Bridgman, Alfred North Whitehead, J. J. Thomson, and Paul Dirac. He resided in Princeton, Los Alamos, Berkeley, and New York City, and died of laryngeal cancer in Princeton.

Oppenheimer spoke English, French, German, and Latin. His native language was English. He authored works including *Reflections on the resonances of physics history*, *The hope of order*, and *Notes in Physics 6a*. He is recognized in the Royal Society collection and the American Academy Arts Sciences collection.

Synthesized by Vinony from 28 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born: 22 Apr 1904
Died: 18 Feb 1967
Works: 25

Top works

J. Robert Oppenheimer, 1904-1967
Reflections on the resonances of physics history
The hope of order
Notes in Physics 6a
Ciencia y entendimiento común

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Film & TV

New York City, New York, USA

J. Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often credited as the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project – the World War II undertaking that developed the first nuclear weapons. Oppenheimer was among those who observed…

Known for

Oppenheimer und die Bombe — Self (archive footage)2025
Nuclear Armageddon: How Close Are We? — Self (archive footage)2024
Atomic People — Self (archive footage)2024
Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War — Self - Physicist (archive footage)2024
Oppenheimer After Trinity — Self (archive footage)2023
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb — Self (archive footage)2023
Oppenheimer: The Real Story — Self (archive footage)2023
A Compassionate Spy — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)2022
Bellum - The Daemon of War — Self (archive footage)2021
Breakpoint: A Counter History of Progress — Self (archive footage)2019

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Wikipedia views (30d)

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Wikidata facts

Instance of: human
Given name: Julius
Family name: Oppenheimer
Gender: male
Citizenship: United States
Place of birth: Manhattan
Place of death: Princeton
Spouse: Katherine Oppenheimer
Sibling: Frank Oppenheimer
Occupation: physicist
Position held: director
Educated at: University of Göttingen
Employer: Institute for Advanced Study
Languages spoken: Dutch
Native language: English language
Award: Officer of the Legion of Honour
Notable work: nuclear bomb
Participant in: Manhattan Project
Academic degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Doctoral advisor: Max Born
Student of: Patrick Blackett
Field of work: nuclear physics
Image: Oppenheimer (cropped).jpg
Residence: Cambridge

Show 19 more facts

member of: Japan Academy
Commons category: J. Robert Oppenheimer
date of birth: 1904-04-22
date of death: 1967-02-18
topic's main category: Category:J. Robert Oppenheimer
Commons gallery: J. Robert Oppenheimer
cause of death: laryngeal cancer
Erdős number: 4
name in native language: Robert Oppenheimer
nominated for: Nobel Prize in Physics
writing language: English language
on focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
student: Melba Phillips
significant person: Richard Chace Tolman
maintained by WikiProject: WikiProject Mathematics
manner of death: natural causes
birth name: Julius Robert Oppenheimer
nickname: Oppie
depicted by: Manhattan

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Encyclopedic overview

J. Robert Oppenheimer (born Julius Robert Oppenheimer /ˈɒpənhaɪmər/ OP-ən-hy-mər; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in overseeing the development of the first nuclear weapons.

Born in New York City, Oppenheimer obtained a degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1925 and a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927, studying under Max Born. After research at other institutions, he joined the physics faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was made a full professor in 1936.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “J. Robert Oppenheimer” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.