April 22, 2025 | By David Vergun
Two civilian scientists working with the U.S. Navy, Jerome Karle and Herbert Hauptman, were jointly awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for groundbreaking work at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, D.C.
Their pioneering innovation involved the development of direct methods for determining complex crystal structures through X-ray diffraction analysis. This technique revolutionized molecular science by enabling researchers to decode the structure of molecules with thousands of atoms within hours—compared to the months or years previously required.
This breakthrough has had far-reaching implications in pharmaceuticals, medical research, explosives, and various industrial applications—many critical to military advancements. A Nobel Prize judge remarked that this method is now nearly universal in chemistry.
Karle, who earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry in 1942, contributed to the Manhattan Project in Chicago, focusing on plutonium purification. He joined the NRL in 1944 and served until 2009 as the chief scientist in the Laboratory for the Structure of Matter.
His wife, Isabella Karle, also worked on the Manhattan Project and later joined him at the NRL in 1946. She played a vital role in molecular analysis, prompting Jerome to say she deserved to share in his Nobel honor. Isabella was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Bill Clinton in 1995. The couple retired together and were survived by their three daughters and four grandchildren. Jerome passed away in 2013 at age 94, and Isabella in 2017 at age 95.
Herbert Hauptman, a former Navy weather forecaster in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, worked at the NRL from 1947 to 1970. He later became research director at the Medical Foundation of Buffalo, which was renamed the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute in his honor in 1994. He died in 2011 at age 94, followed by his wife, Edith, in 2012. They are survived by two daughters.
Their Nobel-winning contributions at the Naval Research Laboratory continue to shape scientific progress and military innovation worldwide.
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