Nobelist, Advisor to Presidents--and One Great Swede

You know you’ve had quite a career when “Nobel Prize winner” is not the most important accolade next to your name.

How about having a whole chemical element named after you? How about dropping this one into the conversation: “Plutonium? Yes, I know a little about it. I discovered it.”

Ann-Margret and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist are among two of the most recognized Swedish Americans. Glenn T. Seaborg may be less known to most of us. But he’s got a star-studded resume that makes him a hero to those who share that heritage. Ten U.S. presidents have sought his counsel. So now has California Gov. Pete Wilson. At age 85, Seaborg is chairing the science subcommittee of a new state commission on academic standards.

Seaborg will be coming to Orange County next month to add another listing to his honor roll. And this one is special to him, because it comes from his fellow Swedish Americans.

Directors of Saddleback Lodge No. 719 of the Vasa Order of America, based in Laguna Hills, have voted to change its name to the Glenn T. Seaborg Lodge No. 719. To note the occasion, Seaborg will speak at a lodge reception and banquet on April 19 at UC Irvine. That date also happens to be his 86th birthday.

The Vasa Order of America was founded by Swedish Americans 102 years ago as a social and fraternal organization. Its first task was to help assist needy elderly--pre-Social Security. Now it’s primarily a way for Swedish Americans to promote their heritage.

“A lot of people think Swedish Americans all live in Minnesota, but there are quite a few of us in California,” said lodge member Glenn Johnson. There are three Vasa orders in Orange County, and nearly a dozen in Los Angeles County.

By the way, it’s not a coincidence that we’ve got two Glenns in this column. Johnson was named after Seaborg, who is first cousin to Johnson’s father, Clark.

Seaborg now lives in Lafayette, Calif. When I called, his daughter said I’d never catch him at home on a work day. Seaborg is associate director at large at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. That’s a research facility sponsored by the Department of Energy through UC Berkeley. You can add that school to his resume too--Seaborg was the Berkeley chancellor from 1958 until 1961, when President Kennedy appointed him to chair the Atomic Energy Commission.

Seaborg had already won the 1951 Nobel Prize for chemistry, as co-discoverer of plutonium. (I found Seaborg’s name next to “plutonium” in Webster’s New World dictionary.) The honors continue to pile up: chemical Element 106 was named “Seaborgium” last year.

A final note about Seaborg’s accomplishments: When I reached him at his office, he told me that the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union is the one he is most proud of--and worked the hardest to achieve.

I asked rather gingerly whether he ever thought about retiring as he pushes on toward 90.

“Retirement was something I could never quite get right,” he said. “Right now I’m busier than ever.”

The night before his UCI speech, for example, he will be at UCLA, his alma mater, for the presentation of the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for Excellence to a biochemistry faculty member. And the week before, he will be speaking in Las Vegas before the National Science Teachers Assn.

But the Vasa Order honor, he said, would be special because he is so proud of his Swedish background: “My mother was born in Sweden, as were my father’s parents. My first language was Swedish. My parents have always been members of a Vasa Order of America lodge, and so have my wife and I. This is just a real pleasure.”

I asked about that Gov. Wilson academic commission.

“I really didn’t have the time for it,” Seaborg said. “But when the governor calls you personally and asks, what can you do?”

Even Ann-Margret and Justice Rehnquist would have to be impressed.

Generation Closers: It was interesting to see the mix of baby boomers and teenagers seeking Bob Dylan tickets this week. Dylan has a whole crop of new fans, like my 15-year-old son Patrick.

I was among those in the cattle call awaiting the ticket booths to open at the Pond of Anaheim, where Dylan will play May 23. Kudos to Pond officials for making ticket distribution fair (by random selection) and for placing enough staff people on the scene to keep the whole thing well organized.

One sign the economy really is improving: Dylan tickets were $85 and $50 each. Everybody in line ahead of me seemed devastated when word filtered down that the $85 seats were all gone.

Outer Limits: It’s always interesting to see what others think of Orange County. So I checked the index in a new book about Los Angeles called “The City.”

Turns out the authors--UCLA professors Allen J. Scott and Edward W. Soja--see Orange County as one of four “Outer Cities” of Los Angeles.

It’s an interesting book about urban growth, though the prose is dreadfully ponderous. An Outer City is defined as a “technoburb” or a “technopolis” or “urban village.”

Specifically about us: “Orange County is the largest and most paradigmatic of all outer cities . . . it has been an especially significant focus of restructuring research in all its dimensions and has become a model of sorts for comparative urban studies throughout the world.”

You betcha.

Wrap-Up: The Vasa name derives from Swedish King Gustav Vasa, who united Sweden as one nation in 1523. The Glenn T. Seaborg lodge was organized 22 years ago, and specializes in Swedish traditions throughout the year, like Midsummer and the St. Lucia Festival.

Glenn Johnson expects the April 19 dinner to draw Swedish Americans from throughout the Southland. Tickets range from $25 to $35. You can get more information by calling (714) 661-9105.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by calling The Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail to jerry.hicks@latimes.com