2. Columbia University
Multiple buildings throughout the Columbia University campus were used by Manhattan Project members. Schermerhorn Hall and Pupin Hall saw the creation of the Cyclotron by Professor John R. Dunning and his team. This device facilitated nuclear fission and is now housed in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. When researchers needed even more space, the University purchased a former car dealership at 3280 Broadway. Known as the Nash Garage Building, it was used by researchers such as Lawrence S. O’Rourke who worked on creating a barrier material for the K-25 plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After World War II. Columbia’s Prentis Hall was used as a nuclear testing laboratory. Tests conducted there were part of the “Atoms for Peace” program.
