Dr. Kidder is one of the preeminent scientists who held the monumental responsibility of developing, safeguarding, and managing nuclear weapons with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
PLEASANTON, CA, July 25, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to name Dr. Ray Edward Kidder a Lifetime Achiever. An accomplished listee, Dr. Kidder celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Kidder is one of the preeminent scientists who held the monumental responsibility of developing, safeguarding, and managing nuclear weapons with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1956 to 2014. He is well known for his outspoken views on nuclear testing and arms control, having had a role in the Pacific testing of nuclear weapons. Dr. Kidder believes his greatest achievement was being recognized, jointly with Roy Woodruff, with the 1993 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award, which is given to scientists active in environmental issues, arms control, and scientific policy.
In his early life Dr. Kidder was inspired by his father, Harry Alvin Kidder, who for many years was in charge of the giant IRT electric power plant in New York City. Dr. Kidder served in the U.S. Navy through the end of World War II and saw the detonation of the nuclear weapon in the context of war. Back home and experiencing peace for the first time since he was 18, Dr. Kidder attended Ohio State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in mathematics. At the last moment, Dr. Kidder changed his focus of study from primarily mathematics to theoretical molecular spectroscopy, earning his Ph.D. in physics. This combination of disciplines would later come into very specific use for the Livermore Laboratory.
From 1950 to 1956, Dr. Kidder conducted research for the California Research Corp in La Habra. From 1956 to 1962, Dr. Kidder worked at Livermore Laboratory's thermonuclear weapons program during the nuclear testing moratorium that existed primarily between the United States and Russia. Much of Dr. Kidder's work was spent on computer modeling and weapons design without actual ignition of a thermonuclear device. In 1963, the moratorium was lifted. Dr. Kidder and colleague Ted Merkel were put into service with the Operation Dominick Pacific test detonations. Their team reviewed the adequacy of weapons designs in what was known as the "pre-mortem" phase of the devices. After nuclear weapon testing was concluded, Dr. Kidder went on to study lasers for applications in thermonuclear fusion. He has written several papers and books on various physics subjects, and his achievements include research in inertial confinement fusion, megagauss magnetic fields, laser isotope enrichment and containment of low-yield nuclear explosions. Though sustained fusion was never a topic of study, Dr. Kidder laid much of the groundwork toward clean fusion reactor technology.
Controversy has also surrounded Dr. Kidder since 1979, when he testified as a witness for the defense in United States v. The Progressive case. He disagreed with Nobel Prize laureate Hans Bethe on the merits of censoring information on the hydrogen bomb that had come from unclassified sources. Dr. Kidder's correspondence with Dr. Bethe has been made public, and in it Dr. Kidder argues that acknowledging the information already at large would work toward controlling the materials required to make a thermonuclear weapon. Dr. Kidder was asked to review nuclear stewardship by the Department of Energy in 1997, on warhead remanufacturing by the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1998, and in 1999 wrote an article for the Washington Post favoring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. In the 1987 paper "Maintaining the U.S. Stockpile of Nuclear Weapons During a Low Threshold or Comprehensive Test Ban," Dr. Kidder cautions t it is necessary to keep up with current technology even during a period when tests cannot be executed.
Dr. Kidder has served with the advisory board for the Institute for Quantum Optics and the editorial board for Nuclear Fusion Journal published by the International Atomic Energy Agency. He received the 1988 Humboldt Award from the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation, given to renowned scientists and scholars. Dr. Kidder has consulted with Science Applications International Corporation and is an honorary member of the advisory board at the Institute for Advanced Physics Studies. He is also a fellow of the American Physical Society, which presented him with the Leo Szilard award, as well as a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of Sigma Xi. For his accomplishments in physics, Dr. Kidder is included in numerous volumes of Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in the West, and Who's Who in the World. He has three children.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Dr. Kidder has been featured on the Marquis Who's Who Lifetime Achievers website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who's Who in America , Marquis Who's Who has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field of endeavor, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Today, Who's Who in America remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms around the world. Marquis publications may be visited at the official Marquis Who's Who website at www.marquiswhoswho.com.
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