Hugh Bradner

Hugh Bradner (November 5, 1915 – May 5, 2008) was an American physicist at the University of California who is credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit, which helped to revolutionize scuba diving. Hugh Bradner was born in Tonopah, Nevada, on November 5, 1915, but he was raised in Findlay, Ohio. His father, Donal Byal Bradner, was briefly director of the Chemical Warfare Service at Maryland's Edgewood Arsenal. Bradner graduated from Ohio's Mia... more

Hugh Bradner (November 5, 1915 – May 5, 2008) was an American physicist at the University of California who is credited with inventing the neoprene wetsuit, which helped to revolutionize scuba diving. Hugh Bradner was born in Tonopah, Nevada, on November 5, 1915, but he was raised in Findlay, Ohio. His father, Donal Byal Bradner, was briefly director of the Chemical Warfare Service at Maryland's Edgewood Arsenal. Bradner graduated from Ohio's Miami University in 1936 and later received his doctorate from California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, in 1941. Following his doctorate from California Institute of Technology, Bradner worked at the US Naval Ordnance Laboratory where he researched naval mines from 1941 until 1943. He was recruited by J. Robert Oppenheimer to join the Manhattan Project in 1943 at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, which helped to develop the first atomic bomb. Bradner helped to develop a wide range of technology needed for the... less