Martin Sherwin, Tufts' Walter S. Dickson Professor of English and American History, is the co-recipient of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for biography, the Pulitzer Board announced this Monday, Apr. 17.
Sherwin received the award for a biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer that he co-authored with journalist and writer Kai Bird.
The book, "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer" traces the life of Oppenheimer, the "father of the atomic bomb."
"I think the Pulitzer prize and a dollar twenty five gets me on the metro," said Sherwin, who downplayed the award. Sherwin said that while "it's very nice to have my research recognized," it won't change any of the basic needs which must be met to write a work of history.
Oppenheimer was a famed American physicist who served as scientific director of the Manhattan Project, the World War II atomic energy project which produced the United States' first nuclear weapons.
After WWII, Oppenheimer became an outspoken opponent of nuclear proliferation. As Chairman of the General Advisory Committee to the Atomic Energy Commission, Oppenheimer voiced sentiment against the creation of the hydrogen bomb. Oppenheimer had long been involved in left-wing politics, and in 1953, President Eisenhower asked him to resign. He refused, and after a public hearing to determine his loyalty, Oppenheimer's security clearance was revoked in 1954. Oppenheimer continued to tour and work in physics, but it was observed that he was never the same. He died of throat cancer in
1967.
Sherwin's research has remained focused on the Cold War era for most of his career. He was inspired to pursue these studies after serving in the U.S. Navy from 1959-1963.
"I was in the navy, and I was an air intelligence officer who was responsible for briefing my squadron about international politics," Sherwin said.
He started working on Oppenheimer's biography in the late 1970s but had to put the project on the back burner while beginning the Global Classroom project at Tufts in 1986.
The program linked students studying in Moscow to Tufts students via satellite television.
According to Sherwin, parallel courses were taught in Moscow and on the Hill, and "twice a semester the students would be linked by television."
"Each of those TV links ... was shown on PBS," Sherwin said.
Sherwin also founded Tufts' Nuclear Age History and Humanities Center. Physics professor Gary Goldstein spoke highly of his colleague, with whom he taught a course called "The Nuclear Age."
"Marty worked on that book for something like 25 years and interviewed every person who had something important to do with Oppenheimer," Goldstein said. "The book is a wonderful biography of a person whose character was incredibly complex."
Sherwin is currently working as an advisor to Emmy-winning director Jon Else, who is filming a documentary called "Doctor Atomic," an opera inspired by Oppenheimer's life.
Sherwin recently began work on his next book, which is about the Cuban missile
crisis.
