"It's gratifying to see others recognize what a unique resource Fred Begay is, both for Navajo youth and for the Laboratory's efforts to bring diversity to our scientific community," said Laboratory Director John Browne. "The honor is well deserved."
Begay, who joined the Laboratory's laser program in 1971 and continues research on controlled thermonuclear fusion, has been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles and documentaries produced by the Public Broadcasting System and the British Broadcasting Corp. He has worked with such science luminaries as Hans Bethe, Stirling Colgate, Bruno Rossi, Wolfgang Panofsky and the late Glenn Seaborg.
His professional accomplishments are remarkable because he earned a doctorate in physics from the University of New Mexico without having attended high school. But Begay, for whom education is as much an avocation as science, is bemused by the attention.
"Skills in abstract reasoning are developed in the Navajo home," he said. "My parents were Hataalii, Navajo and Ute chanters and spiritual leaders. My family education was based on the laws of nature and our own cognitive science process. These are the same skills needed to study physics and mathematics."
Begay, who spoke only Navajo and Ute until the age of 10, was sent to a BIA school in Colorado where he spent eight years learning to be a farmer.
"They thought we weren't intelligent enough for academic learning," he said. "Actually, we were just cheap labor and ran the farms to grow food for the school. Can you imagine how many students out there are turned away who can do good work?"
Although he was not traditionally prepared for higher education, Begay said he felt at home in the classroom when he began his studies at UNM. "In some ways I was better prepared than some of the others, although I didn't know it at the time," he said.
Navajo math is based on module eight arithmetic, as is computer science, rather than the module ten arithmetic taught in most American schools. From their earliest years living in traditional eight-sided hogans, young Navajo brains are accustomed to fractal geometry, as this "new" branch of math now appearing in schools is known.
"Fractal art can be used on the computer to explore and visualize both the Navajo and modern principles of scientific concepts, such as lasers and magnetism," Begay said. "It's the best way to get kids interested, since every child is a scientist and they are naturally curious about natural phenomena."
Begay, who has taught physics at Stanford and the University of Maryland while on sabbaticals from the Laboratory, now conducts one-day basic science classes at middle schools on the Navajo reservation.
"We're told by educators that middle school is where you need to motivate students to learn about science and mathematics," Begay said "This has not been done well across the nation."
Another ongoing project for Begay is a series of workshops designed to educate nonspecialists, particularly in Navajo country, about basic concepts of nuclear science and technology that will enable them to understand its effects on their environment and daily lives. Five such workshops, the latest on radiation effects, have been offered through the Seaborg Hall of Science, an independent, nonprofit institution for education and research that Begay heads.
Named for the late Nobel Chemistry Laureate Glenn T. Seaborg, the organization's volunteer core members include Navajo professionals who have established careers in science, engineering and medicine. Douglas D. Osheroff of Stanford University, awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize for Physics, serves as a member of the board of directors. Seaborg envisioned improving the quality of the Navajo technical workforce to benefit U.S. science and technology enterprise.
The organization's mission is to provide public services to the Navajo community in the areas of science and technology. "As we develop technologies, we always need to have an education component," Begay said. "The uranium companies want to start mining again up near the Navajo Reservation, and the people need to know what that will mean."
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.