The first cyclotron to call the University home was built in 1940 and housed in an underground chamber adjacent to the west end of the powerhouse. Early in 1942, the cyclotron was put under government control as part of the Manhattan Project, seeking plutonium in World War II. The first isolated plutonium in the world, which would barely fit on the head of a pin, was accomplished with this cyclotron. In the summer of 1943, Frank O. Bubb, head of applied mathematics, took charge of the cyclotron as it once again fell under University auspices. Another cyclotron (above) was built in 1964, when Mallinckrodt Institute researchers designed and installed it at the Washington University Medical Center. It was the first cyclotron to be located in a U.S. medical facility.
Washington University is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2003-04.
