Ashton O’Donnell
Ashton J. (Ash) O’Donnell, who worked on the atomic bomb during World War II and later helped to develop nuclear power for civic uses, died July 28, in San Rafael, Calif. He was 89.
O’Donnell was born April 7, 1921, and grew up in Helena, Mont. He was married for 66 years to his wife Virginia (Gini) Graham O’Donnell.
The couple met at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., from which they graduated in 1943.
During World War II, O’Donnell worked on the Manhattan Project at Oak Ridge, Tenn., and after the war with the newly established Atomic Energy Commission at the Hanford Labs in Richland, Wash.; and the AEC office in San Francisco. He worked with the late scientist and co-founder of LLNL, Edward Teller, during the development of the hydrogen bomb.
He was an early and fervent supporter of the Atoms for Peace Program, joining Stanford Research Institute (SRI International) in Menlo Park as manager of nuclear economics in 1954.
O’Donnell retired in 1986 as president of Bechtel National, Inc. and vice president and director of the Bechtel Group.
In retirement, he and his wife spent part of each year at their summer home in Idaho's Sawtooth Valley.
He served as a member of Whitman College’s board of overseers and member and chair of the board of trustees. In 2002, the couple established the Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Chair in Global Studies, spearheading the development of Whitman’s acclaimed Global Studies Initiative, which brings to campus international experts in fields from diplomacy to science and the arts. In 1997, Whitman gave O’Donnell an honorary doctor of science degree.
O’Donnell is survived by his wife, Gini of San Rafael; his daughters, Sherry Burns of Cupertino, Calif., Joan O’Donnell of Santa Fe, NM and Cambridge, Mass., and Jennifer Conner of San Rafael; he was predeceased by his daughter, Lynn O’Donnell of San Francisco.
He also is survived by grandchildren, Colleen Burns Uhran (John), Maximilian O’Donnell Halus; Nora Wilkinson; and Allison, Bobby and Lulu Conner; great-grandchild, Jackson Uhran; sons-in-law, Robert Burns, Lawrence Wilkinson and Kenneth Conner; brother-in-law, Jim Graham; several cousins; many nieces and nephews; and countless friends around the world.
The family will hold private celebrations of O’Donnell’s life in California and Idaho. Contributions may be made to the O’Donnell Global Studies Chair, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362 or the Sawtooth Society, PO Box 209, Stanley, ID 83278.
