J. Robert Oppenhimer 's Leadership Essay

Even today, 71 years after the first use of the atomic bomb, people praise Oppenheimer’s many contributions to science but also question his ethics in the development of the atomic bomb. However, I believe J. Robert Oppenheimer was a visionary leader and ethical leader as his contributions advanced science and put an end to a great war.

In the Leadership Challenge, 4th edition, it is Kouzes & Posner (2007) intention to present a road map for individuals to follow on their leadership journey. The authors stress that “leadership is not a gene and it’s not an inheritance.” Leadership they assert is “an identifiable set of skills and abilities that are available to all of us” (p. 23). They make clear that the “great person” theory of leadership is “plain wrong.” Leaders are our everyday heroes who do extraordinary things on a regular basis (p. 23).

J. Robert Oppenheimer, a jewish scientist that created the nuclear bomb, was seen as both a positive and negative influence on the world. Oppenheimer helped change the world during the Manhatten Project and after. Being the "Father of the Atomic Bomb" Oppenheimer gained many enemies. People did not like that he opposed the hydrogen bomb and gained cultural power. J. Robert Oppenheimer may have had both positive and negative influences on the world.

He graduated from Williams College. He majored in physics, and he soon got recruited to work on the first atomic bomb. He was not happy when he saw the effects it had on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He used the money he made to fund a library in New York City. It was really successful, and it is still there today.

Three days later, after Japan failed to heed our cry for surrender, we dropped the second bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 40,000. This was quite possibly one of the most questionable acts during World War II, if not during the modern era.While on one hand, Japan wasn’t going to surrender without one hell of a fight and this act saved millions of young american lives, it also negatively affected that many japanese in one way or another. However this ethical dilemma wasn’t the driving force behind this essay. Rather it was astounding success of the Manhattan project. Scientists from all over the globe came together against a common enemy and managed something spectacular. Before the war, nuclear anything was in its infancy. However, together these physicists and engineers and rocket scientists managed to break down a new frontier. While it would be immoral to condone the creation of such a destructive device, one can’t deny its purpose. It saved lives and brought to an end a war that had gone on too

From your perspective, based on the video and articles for this activity, how did GE

Thousands of workers were employed, but the true nature of the project was only known to an elite group of scientists. Among them was Robert Oppenheimer, the “father of the atomic bomb”.

Debates on the use of the atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been active for decades and continue to this day. The timeline of events and available evidence is consistent with the notion that the most compelling reason Pres. Truman authorized the use of atomic weapons was for diplomatic and political reasons, with an eye towards the Soviet Union, rather than bringing an early end to the war with the immediate surrender of Japan. The development of the atomic bomb was the largest program of covert scientific research ever undertaken. There are several reasons cited to justify the use of the bomb. There are, however, a number of evidence supported factors that challenge this perspective. An aggressive Soviet

“I am death, destroyer of worlds,” (Robert Oppenheimer). Throughout history, there has been many inventions that have been created to kill people more efficiently. The broadsword, the bow and arrow, the crossbow, the musket, the automatic weapon, the tank and the plane are all examples of how man has used innovation to improve our ability to defeat one’s enemy. Perhaps the most significant invention of all is the atomic bomb. Robert Oppenheimer created a revolutionary new weapon, innovated a new scientific technology that no one had ever dreamed of before and illuminated the world to the horrors of these weapons of mass destruction.

Going in he was full of self doubt, and desperate to find something he was passionate about. Quantum and theoretical physics, he found, were the answer. Theoretical physics, was still developing to address the new quantum world that classical physics couldn't explain, giving Oppenheimer many great opportunities to succeed, publishing 16 papers during his three years in Germany. He found the work exhilarating, and he flourished there. Many of the other physicists were annoyed by Oppenheimer however, as he often behaved as if he was wise and all knowing. Oppenheimer still managed to befriend many famous physicists there such as Heisenberg and Fermi. He eventually returned to America, full of confidence and was anxious to further study these new physics. He taught at Cal-tech and The University of California, however, initially, he was incapable of teaching. Many students were described as having to take the class twice to fully understand the material or in pairs, with one taking notes while the other listened. He spoke and wrote quickly and many were unable to follow him. Eventually, however, he was able to become a charismatic and effective teacher, but his arrogance remained an issue. He was constantly acting as if he was above his students and the other faculty. He was impatient, and known to reduce students to tears. This

The scientists involved in this major tasks were highly qualified for the jobs. Two years after earning his bachelor's degree, Oppenheimer had his Ph.D and a reputation as one of the leading young theoretical physicists in the world (Klehr 2). Aside from his earned degrees, many looked at Oppenheimer as highly qualified beyond his education. General Leslie Groves concluded that Oppenheimer had the skills and vision to oversee the development of an atomic weapon (Klehr 2). It may seem that Oppenheimer was a very big deal during the Manhattan Project. This is because he played a key role in the development of the bomb. “J. Robert Oppenheimer was in charge of designing and building the bomb in collaboration with British Scientists” (Roberts 2).

Julius Robert Oppenheimer was born April 22, 1904 to Ella Friedman, an artist and Julius Oppenheimer, a wealthy German textile merchant in New York City, New York. As a child Robert was interested in geology and was said to have even contacted locally famous geologist to discuss the rock formations he observed in Central Park. At the age of 17 Oppenheimer began attending Harvard, a prestigious and well known private University. He graduated Harvard with a major in Chemistry in May of 1925. Later that year he enrolled at Cambridge University in England to study physics thus beginning his atomic research in the Cavendish Laboratory under J.J. Thomson.

His family had enough money to send him to college but he was still able to get scholarships for his academic achievement. He won a fellowship of the Scuola Normale Superiore in 1918. "He spent four years at the University of Pisa, gaining his doctoral degree in physics in 1922…"(12). He was even teaching his teachers there by 1920. While still an undergraduate, Fermi worked out his first theory of permanent value to physics. He also attended the Universities of Rome, Leiden and Gottingen. "His only setback was a period of post doctoral study in Germany in 1923 among such talents such as Wolfgang Pauli and Werner Heisenberg when his talents went unrecognized" (154). He preferred simplicity and concreteness rather than pretension and the philosophic German style. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theorist, later described Fermi as "not a philosopher" and unable to let things be foggy. He had a passion for clarity.

One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.

I have learned many lessons from Jack Welch on leadership. Jack Welch has been with the General Electric Company (GE) since 1960. Having taken over GE with a market capitalization of about $12 billion, Jack Welch turned it into one of the largest and most admired companies in the world by the time he stepped down as its CEO 20 years later, in 2000. Jack Welch used his uncanny instincts and unique leadership strategies to run GE, the most complex organization in the world and increased its market value by more than $400 billion over two decades. He remains a highly regarded figure in business circles due to his innovative leadership style. Jack Welch demonstrated Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of modeling the way, inspiring a shared