MUSEUM HAPPENINGS

Hal Behl’s 100th Birthday Party

A Board Trustee from the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Hal Behl, turned 100 years old on July 3, 2022, and due to his many years of service to local organizations and the city, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller has issued a signed proclamation making July 3, 2022, “Hal Behl Day” in the city. The proclamation was held at the Nuclear Museum to be presented to Mr. Behl on his birthday.

Hal has been a resident of Albuquerque for over 40 years. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from New York University, his early career included serving in the Manhattan Project at Clinton Engineer Works, later known as Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a Special Engineering Detachment person for the U.S. Army. He served as the Assistant Supervisor of the Engineering Department at the K-25 Laboratory to produce enriched uranium. The group focused mainly on designing and building laboratory, process, health physics and quality assurance equipment such as an adjustable mass Spectrometry tube and a high vacuum selector valve.

Hal went on to a long and fruitful career in aeronautics as a rocket and propulsion scientist working for the Boeing Company and others. He is one of the oldest members of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Avionics. There is a special exhibit case dedicated to Hal and his accomplishments at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History.

He continues to serve as a Trustee Emeritus of the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, the Chairman of the Board of the Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, was a past Board member of the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology and as a Board Member of the New Mexico Academy of Science.