HISTORICAL SOCIETY News:

Dr. Richard Melzer will present a lecture on security at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9.

He will discuss the theory of how security was supposed to work at that time, the reality of how bad security was during the war, and how at least three Soviet spies were able to exploit security weaknesses to steal the secret of the bomb, leading to the successful development of a Soviet atomic weapon by 1949.

Melzer is originally from Teddy Roosevelt’s hometown of Oyster Bay, N.Y. He has lived in New Mexico since 1973.

Melzer earned his Ph.D. in History at the University of New Mexico in 1979. He has taught history at the University of New Mexico’s Valencia Campus since that same year. He is now a Regents Professor of History.

He is the author, co-author, or editor of 21 books as well as more than one hundred articles and chapters about New Mexico history.

He is a past president of both the Historical Society of New Mexico and the Valencia County Historical Society.

Among the many awards he has received for writing, teaching, and service to his profession, he is most proud of receiving the University of New Mexico’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award.

He is married to Rena Chávez and has two grown children, Kam and Rick, a granddaughter, Louisa Marie, and a grandson, Ben. Dr. Melzer and his wife, Rena, live in Belen, New Mexico.