Rickover, Hyman

Rickover, Hyman (1900–86) naval officer and nuclear engineer. Rickover's family fled Russian Poland in the face of persistent anti-Semitism and settled first in New York, then in Chicago. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and studied electrical engineering in its postgraduate program at the academy and at Columbia University. Ambitious and innovative, he unsuccessfully sought a command and also developed expertise in submarine engineering, in which he became the navy's expert. During World War II he led the electrical section of the Bureau of Ships and successfully met the rapidly increasing demand for power. In 1946 he was sent to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to begin research on the use of nuclear fission to power submarines, and in 1949 he became head of a joint commission of the navy and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission on nuclear propulsion; this position gave him enormous power over the direction of research and design for nuclear-powered submarines. The world's first such vessel, the Nautilus, was launched on January 21, 1954, revolutionizing naval operations. Rickover remained with the program until 1982. In his later years, Rickover admitted to some financial improprieties, but these did not lessen respect for his leadership and technical expertise.