J. Robert Oppenheimer
Oppenheimer, c.�
Born	Julius Robert Oppenheimer April 22, 1904 New York City, U.S.
Died	February 18, 1967 (aged 62) Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (AB) Christ's College, Cambridge University of Göttingen (PhD)
Known for	Nuclear weapons Oppenheimer–Snyder model Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff limit Oppenheimer–Phillips process Born–Oppenheimer approximation
Spouse	Katherine "Kitty" Puening ​ ​ (m. 1940)​
Children	2

Julius Robert Oppenheimer^{[note 1]} (/ˈɒpənhaɪmər/ OP-ən-hy-mər April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and director of the Manhattan Project's Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the "father of the atomic bomb".

Born in New York City to Jewish immigrants from Germany, Oppenheimer earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1925 and a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927. After research at other institutions, he joined the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became a full professor in 1936. He made significant contributions to theoretical physics, including achievements in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics such as the Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular wave functions, work on the theory of electrons and positrons, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of quantum tunneling. With his students, he also made contributions to the theory of neutron stars and black holes, quantum field theory, and the interactions of cosmic rays.

In 1942, Oppenheimer was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, and in 1943 he was appointed director of the project's Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, tasked with developing the first nuclear weapons. His leadership and scientific expertise were instrumental in the project's success. On July 16, 1945, he was present at the first test of the atomic bomb, Trinity. In August 1945, the weapons were used against Japan in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only use to date of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.

In 1947, Oppenheimer became the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and chaired the influential General Advisory Committee of the newly created U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He lobbied for international control of nuclear power to avert