Herman Postma

Abstract

Herman Postma, longtime director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), died of a cerebral hemorrhage on 6 November 2004 while on vacation in Hawaii.Postma was born in New Hanover County in North Carolina on 29 March 1933. His parents had emigrated from the Netherlands, and were still struggling financially, but Postma proved to be an outstanding student and won a full scholarship to Duke University. In 1955, he graduated at the top of his class with a BS in physics. He entered graduate school at Harvard University under adviser Richard Wilson, who recalled, “Herman was one of the few of my students who did not have to have everything explained three times before it was understood. He was very self-directed.” Postma’s dissertation was entitled “The Elastic Scattering of 146 MeV Polarized Protons by Deuterons.” During graduate school, Postma spent summers at ORNL to work on research projects in nuclear physics. During those summers he met his future wife, Pat, who was a mathematician at the laboratory. After graduation in 1959, he joined the laboratory’s thermonuclear division to work on controlled fusion. In those early days of fusion research, optimism was rampant. A commonly heard prognosis was that fusion would be a useful source of energy in 10 years. (Now, some 50 years later, a commercial fusion device is projected to appear in 25 years.) ORNL scientists worked on a succession of mirror machines, designated as DCX-1, DCX-2, and so forth, with molecular-ion injection into a plasma contained in magnetic mirrors. Postma was a pioneer in the investigation of the properties of energetic particles in such containments. Using masterful and ingenious experimental techniques, he developed new diagnostics for measuring plasma characteristics and found plasma densities to be 107 particles/cm3, some seven orders of magnitude too low for a thermonuclear reactor. By then, Postma, who had become director of ORNL’s thermonuclear division in 1967, abandoned the mirror technology and decided to build a tokamak, dubbed the ORMAK. ORNL has pursued the tokamak technology ever since.At age 39, Postma was appointed director of ORNL, a post he held until his retirement in 1988. During his tenure, the laboratory was buffeted by radical changes in Washington, DC. The Atomic Energy Commission was replaced by the Energy Research and Development Administration, and later absorbed by the Department of Energy. Through those turbulent years when it seemed that the emphasis on science was replaced by one on compliance, Postma steered the laboratory with skill and intelligence. ORNL ceased to be primarily a reactor laboratory and became a truly multidisciplinary research institution. The research program was broadened to include all forms of energy, as well as the environmental consequences of energy production and use. Under his leadership, ORNL became particularly eminent in energy conservation, a still-undervalued option nationally.In the sciences, there was growth in nuclear physics with a new accelerator and in materials science with a new state-of-the-art high-temperature materials laboratory, and a reinvigorated neutron-scattering program on ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. Under Postma’s direction, ORNL’s computing capabilities were revived with a new emphasis on parallel computing. His management style contributed to such technical advances. His office was always open, he managed the laboratory in collegial fashion with subordinate managers, and he insisted on fiscal discipline. Postma was scrupulously fair, but tough-minded. He insisted on peer review to establish the value and relevance of research, and he worked hard to master ORNL’s multifaceted programs.Postma developed a strong relationship between ORNL and the neighboring University of Tennessee. During his tenure, joint professorships and distinguished scientist positions were created. Even joint buildings were erected.As his job demanded, Postma served on many committees and panels. He was most proud of his election to the Duke University Board of Trustees (1987–99) and his appointment by the governor of Tennessee to the state’s Higher Education Commission (1984–92). He gave generously of his time to civic affairs; the business community held him in high regard.After his retirement from ORNL, Postma spent three years as senior vice president of Martin Marietta Energy Systems before taking a full retirement.Postma will be remembered for his incisive leadership of ORNL, his ability to understand issues quickly, and his knack for making informed, fair, and mostly successful decisions. That ORNL continues to flourish is in great measure due to his stewardship.All of us who know the laboratory and value its many contributions to the nation recognize the debt we owe to Herman Postma. Herman Postma PPT|High resolution© 2005 American Institute of Physics.