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Childhood J. Robert Oppenheimer was born to Julius and Ella Oppenheimer on April 22, 1904. Julius came to the United States at 17 in 1888 and was very successful in the textile business. Ella's family had lived in the United States for several generations. His brother Frank was born in 1912. As a young child Oppenheimer attended the Ethical Culture School. The founder of the school was Felix Adler. Adler wanted his students to see “things not as they are, but as they might be.” In Adler's words, "The ideal of the school is to develop individuals who will be competent to change their environment to greater conformity with moral ideals." The students were expected to develop their intellectual, artistic, and moral potential. Oppenheimer developed a liking for philosophy at that time. In high school, Oppenheimer took as many as nine classes at a time and excelled, becoming valedictorian for his class. He went to Harvard and graduated with highest honors in chemistry in 1925. Oppenheimer went to Cambridge, England for post-graduate work in experimental physics.
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http://ohst.berkeley.edu/oppenheimer/exhibit/chapter1.html
J.
Robert Oppenheimer at Harvard, 1925. In his yearbook he described his
accomplishments simply: "In college three years as an
undergraduate."
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