Glenn Seaborg

Glenn Seaborg was an American scientist born in Ishpeming, Michigan. His family was poor and he served his college days working a number of jobs - a stevedore, fruit-packer and laboratory assistant. After his graduation at the University of California (in 1934), he took his education further by completing his Ph.D. at Berkeley. In the event of the second world war - he worked at the University of Chicago's Metallurgical Laboratory. There,  he helped to develop plutonium in "uranium reactors." Later, after being appointed a professor of chemistry at the University of California (in 1946) he received a Nobel Prize for his discovery of plutonium. He is notable for being appointed chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission by President John Kennedy himself.