Lester S. Skaggs (21 November 1911 – 3 April 2009) was an American physicist who made significant contributions to the development of medical physics and radiation therapy. His career spanned work on the Manhattan Project during World War II and pioneering efforts in the application of high‑energy radiation for cancer treatment, as well as the establishment of academic programs in medical physics.
Early life and education
Skaggs was born in Trenton, Missouri, and grew up on a farm in northern Missouri. He attended a one‑room schoolhouse and rode a horse to high school. He earned a B.S. in chemistry with a minor in mathematics (1933) and an M.S. in physics (1934) from the University of Missouri. He then pursued graduate studies in nuclear physics at the University of Chicago, receiving his Ph.D. in 1939.
World War II and the Manhattan Project
From 1941 to 1943 Skaggs worked at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington, D.C., developing an airplane proximity‑detection system for anti‑aircraft shells. In 1943 he was assigned to the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, where he adapted his detection system into a failsafe “fuse” for the first atomic bomb. He observed the Trinity test at Alamogordo and contributed to safety improvements for bomb delivery.
Medical physics and radiation therapy
After the war, Skaggs returned to Chicago and resumed work at Michael Reese Hospital’s tumor clinic, collaborating with physicist Donald Kerst on using a betatron to generate therapeutic electron beams. In 1948 he joined the University of Chicago as an assistant professor of radiology, later becoming a full professor. At the Argonne Cancer Research Hospital (later the University of Chicago Cancer Research Hospital) he helped design and construct one of the United States’ early cobalt‑60 treatment units and, in the 1950s, co‑developed a graduate program in medical physics—among the first of its kind in the country.
In the early 1960s Skaggs built an analog computer to calculate radiation dose distributions for treatment planning, a precursor to modern dosimetry software. During the 1970s he and colleagues designed a fast‑neutron therapy facility, contributing to the development of neutron‑based cancer treatments.
Later career and legacy
Skaggs retired as professor emeritus from the Departments of Radiology and Radiation & Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He was recognized as a Fellow of the American Physical Society and received numerous honors for his contributions to medical physics. His work helped establish the scientific foundations for modern radiation oncology, including equipment design, dose calculation, and the integration of physics into clinical practice.
References
- Wikipedia contributors. “Lester Skaggs.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2024.
- University of Chicago News, “A pioneer in the use of radiation to treat cancer, Lester Skaggs, Ph.D.” (2009).
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine, In Memoriam of Lester Skaggs (2010).