Rasmussen graduated from high school in June, 1945 and enlisted in the United States Navy.

He majored in physics, and studied under Professor George Reich Miller, who encouraged Norm to go to graduate school.

MIT began construction of their first research reactor, led by Norm's good friend Theos J. Thompson, to be competed in 1958.

Rasmussen was a key user of the new reactor, and participated in constructing a 6-meter bent crystal spectrometer used for gamma ray spectroscopy studies for many years.

Perhaps his most remembered moment was his televised debate with activist Ralph Nader over the safety of nuclear power.

Fellow professors at MIT tell of sneaking off with Norm to catch a game at nearby Fenway Park.

Norman Carl Rasmussen 1927-2003, Kent F. Hansen, Biographical Memoirs, volume 86, National Academy of Sciences (2005).