Oct. 05--George W. Reed Jr., a longtime research chemist at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, had a hand in two of the biggest events of the 20th century -- the Manhattan Project and the first moonwalk.
In 1969, Reed traveled to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to witness the launch of Apollo 11, the spaceflight that took the first humans to the moon and brought back to Earth more than 47 pounds of lunar material, some of which he later analyzed.
"I can remember talking with him about meteors and moon dust and, from time to time, bringing him to school for show and tell so he could share his secrets of the universe with my classmates," said his daughter, Lauren Reed, who accompanied him to Florida for the launch.
Reed, 94, died of natural causes Aug. 31 at his home in Chicago, his daughter said.
"He was a very good and very careful scientist who was highly regarded by the scientific community," said Hans von Gunten, a former colleague at Argonne. "He made major contributions on the age of the solar system, on meteorites and in lunar science."
Reed, who published more than 120 scientific papers, was one of about 140 scientists from around the world chosen to investigate moon samples from the Apollo space missions, which ran from 1969 to 1972.
He and a group of colleagues searched for trace elements, such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine, to compare the moon's composition with that of the Earth and meteors, according to a 1969 Tribune article.
In 1977, he was the recipient of NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for his outstanding contributions to NASA's lunar space program.
"His research contributed to the understanding of the origin of the moon," von Gunten said.
Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Reed graduated from Howard University with bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry. During the 1940s, he worked on the Manhattan Project, which led to the first nuclear weapons, at Columbia University in New York, Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and the U. of C.
"There's no question he loved his work, loved science, and would routinely downplay his specific role in any work he was involved in," said his son Mark Morrison-Reed. "But in terms of that particular project, he was very reticent in talking about it."
As one of a handful of African-American scientists working on the Manhattan Project during World War II, Reed was among an inner circle of nuclear scientists.
"We usually talked science but also got onto the subject of race relations," said Edward Anders, a longtime friend and retired U. of C. professor of chemistry. "Through his intellect, dignity and rationality, he overcame the racial stereotypes from most whites he came in contact with. Even at the height of the civil rights struggle of the 1960s, he kept his emotions in check and relied on rational persuasion."
Reed met his wife, Selina, at Howard University. The couple moved to Chicago in 1946 for his work in the chemistry division at Argonne and at the U. of C. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from the university in 1952. He rose to the position of senior research associate before retiring in 1990.
Reed's wife died in 1985.
Other survivors include a son Philip; a brother, Lloyd; four grandchildren; and two great-granddaughters.
Services were held.
