Kenneth Ross MacKenzie | |
|---|---|
 MacKenzie in 1971 | |
| Born | June 15, 1912 |
| Died | July 3, 2002(2002-07-03) (aged 90) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of British Columbia (BS,MS) University of California, Berkeley (PhD) |
| Known for | Synthesis ofastatine |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Nuclear physics |
| Institutions | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory University of California, Los Angeles |
| Doctoral advisor | Ernest Lawrence[1] |
Kenneth Ross MacKenzie (June 15, 1912 – July 3, 2002) was an American nuclear physicist. Together withDale R. Corson andEmilio Segrè, he synthesized the elementastatine, in 1940. MacKenzie received his PhD underErnest Lawrence atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Lawrence, MacKenzie, and their colleagues devised the firstcyclotron.
MacKenzie was a professor of physics at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he andReg Richardson built UCLA's first cyclotron and later aBevatron. MacKenzie devisedMacKenzie buckets which are plasma sources created by lining vacuum chamber walls with permanent magnets of alternating polarity to suppress plasma electron losses, that are widely used to this day. He later traveled around the world, helping to troubleshoot various country's cyclotron problems. Later in life, he studied plasma physics and dark matter.
Mackenzie’s family moved to Victoria, British Columbia when he was age 10. He received his Bachelor's degree and Master's degree from theUniversity of British Columbia, and began further study at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, in 1937.[2] As a graduate student, Kenneth Ross Mackenzie was involved in theManhattan Project to help solve how to separate the rare uranium-235 isotope from the identical dominant uranium-238 isotope at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.[3] While working on the Manhattan project, MacKenzie and colleagues borrowed 14,700 tons of silver from the US Treasury and melted it into strands to replace old copper in their magnetic coils. After the war, the silver was melted and returned to the treasury.[4]
As an actor, he played minor roles withYvonne De Carlo inRide the Pink Horse (1947),River Lady (1948) andBlack Bart (1948).[5]
He died inLos Angeles on 4 July 2002 at aged 90.[2][6]
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