Alfred Carl Haussmann, Jr

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Carl Haussmann

General

Alfred C. "Carl" Haussmann, Jr. (1924-1998) originally from Geneva, New York, was an American physicist who had a distinguished career as a scientist and leader at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California.  Haussmann served in a number of leadership positions at LLNL, including an interim period in 1971 as Acting Director. According to an article in a LLNL publication, “Carl Haussmann helped to revolutionize nuclear warhead design, build Livermore’s renowned laser program, and create an environment conducive to world-class research.”

Former LLNL Director, Dr. Bruce Tarter, wrote a short essay in 1999 that encapsulated his esteem for Haussmann, writing:

"In the lobby of the building that serves as administrative hub for this Laboratory, among the plaques honoring past directors, there hangs one with the following inscription: Innovator, physicist, technologist, communicator, architect, planner, humanist, pragmatist, optimist, mentor, champion. All these descriptors define one man, someone who— although never a director—was instrumental in building the Laboratory and making it the innovative institution it is today: Carl Haussmann."

In the LLNL Official 65th Anniversary Booklet (1952-2017), Haussmann's contributions are noted. The booklet states: "In 45 years of service at the Laboratory, Carl Haussmann made major contributions in many technical areas, including weapons, high-end computing, and lasers.

Personal Life

Haussmann was born in Geneva, New York on 26 August 1924 to Alfred “Al” Carl Haussmann, Sr (1897-1963) and Marie Roberts (1896-1987), both originally from Pennsylvania.  Carl’s father was a longtime physics professor and dean at Hobart College (now Hobart and William Smith Colleges).  In 1947, he married Alice Wilkerson, and they raised two daughters.  Carl had many hobbies, including gardening and photography.  He also enjoyed collecting ‘O' scale (1/48) locomotives and trains as well as Thousand Eye glass pattern glass.

Education

After graduating from Geneva High School in 1942, Carl studied for a year at Hobart College.  He then transferred to the United States Military Academy (USMA) in July 1943, and was an All-American lacrosse player.  According to the 1946 USMA yearbook, Carl was known as "The Chest." It states that "the Chest, with his untiring fortitude and wit, has plodded his weary way into the valley of West Point immortals. A stern advocate of technology, his research in the virgin fields of engineering has netted him knowledge of the remote, and he shall plan the harvest of the future. Hobart will long remember its greatest loss, Carl to West Point."

Carl graduated in 1946 as a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps, with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Military Art and Engineering.  Mr. Haussmann continued his education, taking post graduate courses at the California Institute of Technology, the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and then graduated with a Master's degree in Physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1951.  He also attended the Nuclear Weapons Supervisor School at Sandia Base, New Mexico in 1952.

Career

Highlights of Carl Haussmann’s career are noted below:

•      Supervisor, Nuclear Weapons Team, Sandia Base, New Mexico and Killeen Base, Texas, 1952.
•      Design Team (working with John Wheeler to calculate the explosive power of the first hydrogen bomb and its main stage design), Project Matterhorn, Princeton, NJ, 1952-1953.

• ·     Military Research Associate at the University of California’s newly formed Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), working on nuclear weapons design, 1953.
• Staff member at LLNL, leaving the Army in 1955.  His key positions at LLNL are listed below:
  1. ·        Thermonuclear Explosive Physics Group Leader, 1955-1959.
  2. ·        Thermonuclear Design Group Leader, 1959-1962.
  3. ·        Associate Director of the Military Applications Program, 1962-1968.
  4. ·        Associate Director of the Plans Office, 1968-1971.
  5. Acting Director, 1971.
  6. ·        Associate Director of the Laser Program, 1972-1975.
  7. ·        Associate Director At-Large, 1976-1988.
  8. ·        Associate Director At-Large Emeritus, 1988-1998.
  9. ·        Advisor to the Director, 1988-1998.

Haussmann’s achievements in his long career with LLNL included development of the nuclear warhead for the Polaris missile for submarines in the late 1950s, and later work with supercomputer and laser development. In the early 1970s, Haussmann was credited for recruiting talent, and particularly, Dr. John Emmett and Dr. Bill Krupke to join LLNL and its new experimental laser division (called Y). According to former Director Tarter, Haussmann, then serving as Associate Director of the Laser Program, provided oversight, guidance, and "institutional cover as this division developed into the largest laser program in the world, and became a cornerstone of the Laboratory." Director Tarter, who served as LLNI Director from 1994 to 2002, acknowledged Haussmann's notable career and leadership roles at the Lab, often citing him throughout his 2018 book, The American Lab: An Insider's History of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Beyond his scientific and leadership achievements, Haussmann was passionate about increasing the number of trees at the LLNL campus. He brought in some from his own yard, and one year, he got the California Conservation Corps to plant some three hundred trees throughout the site. According to the LLNL 65th anniversary booklet, Haussmann had a visionary interest in the strategic development of the site and was the driving force behind commissioning and implementing the landscaping plan. Dr. Tarter noted that a plaque affixed near the entrance to Building 111 reads: “In gratitude for the beauty and function of the Livermore site, landscape, architecture, and trees, which Carl planned and patronized over 30 years.” In addition, the large pond on the LLNL site has been named "Lake Haussmann."

Reflections and Memories

• Carl quickly became “major spark plug for the entire weapons program” soon after joining LLNL.

Roger Batzel, Former LLNL Director (1971-1988).

• “Carl had great respect for his brilliant cohorts at the Lab. He believed he could add to their strengths as a leader, and he took pride in leading them.” 

Lyle Cox, longtime colleague.

• Carl “was always there when I needed him. He was a unique person at Livermore. He was committed to creating the future and made it possible for younger people to carry the organization forward. What finer mentor could a person expect to have?”

John Emmett, Associate Director of Laser Programs succeeding Carl in 1975.

• "In the lobby of the building that serves as administrative hub for this Laboratory, among the plaques honoring past directors, there hangs one with the following inscription: Innovator, physicist, technologist, communicator, architect, planner, humanist, pragmatist, optimist, mentor, champion. All these descriptors define one man, someone who— although never a director—was instrumental in building the Laboratory and making it the innovative institution it is today: Carl Haussmann."

• "Carl Haussmann, who had been in charge of the Lab site, was the oracle of institutional knowledge of the Lab."

C. Bruce Tarter, Former LLNL Director (1994-2002).

• :"Carl had a remarkable knack for growing people. An excellent mentor, he delighted in people who could generate ideas, and he knew how to lead people of intellectual brilliance and unbounded energy. He channeled that intellect and energy and encouraged those around him to push the envelope and think in revolutionary terms. Carl was a man with an eye to the future, someone who was always considering the next step, weighing the next challenge. He helped bring the Laboratory from its early beginnings to where it is today, at the forefront of scientific research for the nation’s good. He was a builder of programs, a man who took visions and dreams and made them real. We miss him."

C. Bruce Tarter, Former LLNL Director (1994-2002).

• "In Carl Haussmann, the Laboratory lost one of its founders. Our first job was the construction of a hydrogen bomb. We needed something without excessive costs that we could quickly prepare. Carl, in a unique proposal, put together and helped execute an instrument of this kind. The man who saw how to do it (submarine-based nuclear launch capability) in an effective way - cheaply and quickly-was Carl Haussmann. His death at the early age of 73 makes me deeply sorry."

Edward Teller, co-inventor of the hydrogen bomb and co-founder of LLNL, Former LLNL Director (1958-1960), Director Emeritus

• "Carl became a colleague at Livermore almost 45 years ago. I have valued and admired his service to the Laboratory and to our country ever since. Most of all, I shall miss his steady, thoughtful and measured approach to issues, whether technical, managerial or conceptual. We need more like Carl."

Harold Brown, Former LLNL Director (1960-1961), Former Secretary of Defense (1977-1981)

• "Carl was a major contributor to the development of the nuclear deterrent, Laser Programs and the Laboratory. He had extraordinary talents for recognizing and realizing the 'possible.' He helped design the first megaton 'super bombs' in the early 1950s. Later, at Livermore, he innovated designs that made possible submarine-launched and multiple warhead ballistic missile systems. To many Lab employees, including myself, Carl was a friend and mentor, a great motivator and a powerful ally."

John Nuckolls, Former LLNL Director (1988-1993)

• “Haussmann demonstrated an ability to recognize and act on the big picture. He was a wonderful complement to top Livermore creative theoreticians because he could turn great ideas into reality.”

John Nuckolls, Former LLNL Director (1988-1993).

• “Carl was a great champion of the supercomputer. We became known as the “computer lab” in the early days.”

John Nuckolls, Former LLNL Director (1988-1993)

• Concerning the major landscaping project at LLNL: Carl recognized that an improved site would provide a more efficient working environment as well as give it a more aesthetic quality that would be more conducive to attracting and retaining top employees.

Chuck Meier, LLNL colleague

• "In addition to all his work-related accomplishments, Dad was a wonderful and attentive husband, father and grandfather, who always provided for us a loving and stable family life. He had a great sense of humor which he maintained even through his illness."

Daughter

Carl Haussmann Quote

"Availability and utilization of leading-edge computing capability on campuses is almost nonexistent; with respect to computing, the universities, generally speaking, are in the 'Stone Age.' This is a national disgrace." [The Japanese] "recognize that supercomputers may well be a key to dominance in large scale science and technology and in medium- to high-technology industries. There is no reason why supercomputing techniques now being used at Livermore can't be applied to designing airplanes, skyscrapers or refineries. Those organizations--American or foreign--which most effectively develop and exploit these techniques will dominate their fields of endeavor."

Carl Haussmann statements to a House Subcommittee, 1982.  

Relative

William Max Haussmann, Sr, U.S. Architect, uncle to Carl Haussmann.

References

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