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FRED BEGAY

Navajo/Ute Nuclear Physicist

IMAGE SOURCE: AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS

Fred Begay (July 2nd, 1932 – April 30th, 2013) was a Navajo/Ute Nuclear physicist.

FAST FACTS:

  • Being part of the Indigenous Navajo Nation, he was best known for making parallels from modern science to his cultural beliefs and heritage.
  • Born on Ute Mountain Indian Reservation, he was introduced to numerous aspects of science during rituals and prayers.
  • Unfortunately, he was sent to a government-run school which forced him to study farming. Despite his interest in physics, the administration shot down his requests to be taught it.
  • After serving with the Air Force in the Korean War, he worked his way all the way up to a PhD in physics at the University of New Mexico.
  • Most of Begay’s work was focused on controlled thermonuclear fusion at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. His main goal was to find clean alternative energy sources using fusion in plasmas(hot ionized gasses).
  • His main focus within this department was in regards to “soliton turbulence” which was a relatively new way of causing plasma instability, which could then be converted to energy.

To learn more about Fred Begay, check out the links below:

  • https://www.physicscentral.com/explore/people/begay.cfm
  • https://www.compadre.org/careers/physicists/Detail.cfm?id=1541
  • http://www.nativepartnership.org/site/PageServer?pagename=cin_bio_fredbegay
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