Dr. Jerry Braunstein, age 91, passed away on Wednesday, September 17, 2014, in his Clinton, Tennessee, home.
He was born in New York, New York, on December 24, 1922, to the late Simon and Sarah Braunstein, who emigrated from the Ukraine. He grew up in Washington Heights with his brother, Herman Braunstein.
After attending Townsend Harris High School (Class of 1938) and City College of New York (Class of 1942), he worked on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University.
After World War II, he pursued graduate education at Wesleyan University. He was elected a fellow in Sigma Xi, the Science Research Society. In 1951, he received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University in quantum chemistry. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington and then served as a professor at the University of Maine at Orono for twelve years.
Dr. Braunstein transitioned to a research position in physical chemistry at Oak Ridge National Laboratory; his research focused on thermodynamics and electrochemistry of molten salts. His group’s work led to two patents and about 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He was co-editor of a series of books, “Advances in Molten Salt Chemistry,” and was elected chair of a Gordon Research Conference on Molten Salts. He retired from Oak Ridge National Laboratory after over 23 years of service. [Read more…]