William S. Ginell

William S. Ginell (1923 – 2022) Dr. William S. “Bill” Ginell passed away at the age of 98 on July 31, 2022. A true Renaissance man, Dr. Ginell enjoyed two productive, fruitful, and influential careers as a physical chemist in the aerospace industry, and following his retirement, as a conservation scientist. Born in New York City on August 24, 1923, Ginell became interested in chemistry due to the influence of his older brother Robert, eleven years his senior, who became his first mentor. When the family moved to Brooklyn, Ginell was captain of his high school’s chemistry and physics squads. In 1940, he was admitted to Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in chemistry. After graduation, he worked for the Substitute Alloy Materials (SAM) laboratories at Columbia University, where he was assigned to research gaseous diffusion and its usage in separating U-235 from U-238 isotopes. This led to him being drafted by the Army, receiving his basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey. In 1945, following a stint at an engineer training camp at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, he returned to Columbia where he was recruited to work for the Manhattan Project, developers of the atomic bomb. Soon afterward, he was relocated to their Oak Ridge, Tennessee headquarters where he worked at the gaseous diffusion plant, analyzing the corrosion process, the kinetics of corrosion of materials, and how they withstood fluorine and UF6, working out of the K-25 building. In July 1946, Ginell received his discharge and the next month, married his beloved wife, Sally. They were married for 69 years until her death in September 2015. The newlyweds moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Ginell studied for his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin and Sally worked as a librarian, eventually receiving her B.A. in Library Science. Ginell received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1949. After graduation, Ginell worked in the nuclear engineering department at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, Long Island and the family became one of the earliest residents of the Levittown suburban housing development. The Ginells had two sons, Richard (1953) and Cary (1956), before Ginell moved his family to Los Angeles where they added a daughter, Carolyn (1961), and accepted a job to work for Atomics International. Shortly afterward, he began a long association with McDonnell Douglas (then Douglas Aircraft), initially working on a space-based nuclear power system. While at McDonnell Douglas, Ginell helped pioneer the usage of a new metal called nitinol, an alloy of titanium and nickel with special memory properties. Ginell would incorporate nitinol in a prototype for an engine, for which he received a patent. Ironically, he would later develop a heart condition for which the introduction of a stent that utilized strips of nitinol would help prolong his life. After retiring from McDonnell Douglas, Ginell went to work as a conservation scientist for the Getty Conservation Institute, applying technical information to the conservation of artwork and historic structures, eventually helping to create the Getty Seismic Adobe Project (GSAP), focusing on seismic stabilization of Byzantine churches in Macedonia, work that would eventually result in his being honored with a prestigious award from the Macedonian government. His various projects for Getty took him to far-flung regions of the world, including Belize, where he worked on ancient Mayan structures, and Israel, where he worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Dr. Ginell retired from Getty in 2003 after a “post-retirement” second career lasting 20 years. Ginell’s hobbies included collecting scientific instruments, browsing at flea markets, and being able to fix or repair just about anything. He and his family enjoyed many vacations in the U.S. national parks, enabling him to partake in another passion, photography. Using his background in chemistry, Ginell became known to family members for his scientifically-engineered baked beans and “Billy’s Dillys” pickles. Ginell is survived by his children Richard, Cary (Gail), and Carolyn, and grandchildren Brian, Elizabeth, Adam, and Victoria.