Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen and Linda Richards.
July 22, 2015Location: Valley Library, Oregon State University.
Walter Loveland (b. 1939) is a nuclear chemist who has been a member of the OSU faculty since 1968. A decorated scholar who has made important contributions to the study of super-heavy elements, Loveland enjoyed a twenty-three year collaboration with Glenn Seaborg (1912-1999), a Nobel laureate and fellow nuclear chemist who was based at the University of California, Berkeley. The organizer of a 2012 symposium to celebrate the centenary of Seaborg's birth, Loveland was honored by the American Chemical Society with the 2014 Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Nuclear Chemistry, an acknowledgement of his key contributions to the understanding of super-heavy elements and heavy-element synthesis. In a wide-ranging interview, Loveland shares his institutional memories of nuclear chemistry and radiation science at OSU; recalls his work and friendship with Glenn Seaborg; and provides his perspective on cultural and academic change at Oregon State.