DID YOU KNOW? for November 18 – December 1, 2025

Fred Begay (July 2, 1932 – April 30, 2013) was the first Native American to receive a Ph.D. in Physics. At 10 years old, he was taken from his reservation home and placed at the Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School where he was trained to become a farmer. After serving in the Korean War, Begay attended the University of New Mexico where he received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics. In 1971, he joined the Physics research staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and studied thermonuclear fusion. Learn more about Fred Begay here.