Fred Begay, Nuclear Physicist, Navajo

The first Navajo to receive a Ph.D. in physics, Fred Begay was born at Towaoc, Colorado, on the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation. Begay’s parents were Navajo and Ute healers and spiritual leaders who taught him traditional ceremonies and songs. When he was later introduced to physics at the University of New Mexico, he noticed parallels between modern science and Navajo beliefs of religion and medicine. Begay noted how his culture inculcated an intuition of abstract ideas and discovered Navajo ideas that corresponded to the scientific concepts of radiation and lasers. Begay received a bachelor’s degree in math and science, a master’s in physics, and a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of New Mexico. After receiving a Ph.D., Begay joined the research staff of Los Alamos National Laboratory and studied thermonuclear fusion. Begay received the National Science Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994.