Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies / Oak Ridge Associated Universities

In 1946, 14 southern universities formed the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies (ORINS) - the first peacetime institution of this Secret City - to help faculty and students benefit from the outstanding research staff and facilities of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). William G. Pollard, professor of physics at the University of Tennessee and ex-Manhattan Project theoretician at Columbia University, was instrumental in founding ORINS and became its first executive director. Because it was created soon after the war, ORINS was able to secure a large place for southern universities at ORNL. Programs were instituted for faculty and students to conduct research in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and materials science. In 1948, ORINS initiated courses on radioactive isotopes tracer techniques that allowed researchers to safely use these powerful tools for medical and industrial applications. These programs grew and became known for their excellence. ORINS' pioneering work in nuclear medicine also led to the development of techniques and treatments that benefited the lives of millions of cancer patients throughout the world. In 1966, in recognition of the importance of emerging new work in non-nuclear fields, the ORINS name was changed to Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU),. ORAU's sponsoring members have



continued to grow, numbering 91 in 2005. Looking back 30 years to ORINS' founding, Pollard wrote, "The accident of war which placed ORNL in East Tennessee was a major factor in the transformation of southern universities into research universities." Over the years since, ORAU, sponsored by universities all over the nation, has made major contributions in the understanding and addressing of important energy, health, and environmental problames through its research, education, information training and public service programs.

Erected in Honor of the Founders, Staff, and Students of This Outstanding Institution By Oak Ridge Associated Universities, June 2005.

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Show me all markers in:  Oak Ridge, TN  |  Anderson County  |  37830  |  Tennessee  |  United States of America

1943
1942
X-10 - The Clinton Laboratories
Oak Ridge - Secret City
1945
Construction Workers
Oak Ridge and the Manhattan Project
1949
1948
1947

• GPX
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• LOC

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