Glenn Seaborg: Nobel Prize Winner, Teacher and Leader Glenn Seaborg, 1912-1999 Glenn Seaborg was one of the most remarkable scientists of the 20th century and, as an advisor to ten U.S. Presidents, an influential voice on national and international policies. A Nobel Prize winner and forty-five year resident of Lafayette, Dr. Seaborg's prolific discoveries, which include plutonium and 9 other atomic elements, truly shaped the history of the world. Dr. Seaborg's greatest legacy was his enrichment of society through the sharing of knowledge. As a distinguished scientist, beloved teacher, Chancellor of the University of California, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Director of the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories, and an outspoken member of the President's National Commission on Excellence in education, Dr. Seaborg promoted learning throughout his lifetime. Dr. Seaborg's focus on children and his dedication to learning inspired the planners of the new Lafayette Library and Learning Center to propose the creation of the Learning Consortium in Dr. Seaborg's honor. In his own words, "Whatever the expense of improving education, it is an investment in the future we must make. Excellence costs. But in the long run mediocrity costs more." “There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan, and the musician."
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