Director Yale Observatory

Originally from Yerkes Observatory, he was also president of the American Astronomical society. His main research interest was the improvement of parallax measurements. Results of his investigations are world-renowned and he is considered the leading authority in that area of research.

Director Lick Observatory

He made systematic surveys of binary stars, discovering thousands, measuring their positions visually and calculating orbits for many. His works allowed orbit determinations which increased astronomer's knowledge of stellar masses.

Mount Wilson Observatory

Calibrated Henrietta S. Leavitts's period-luminosity relation for Cepheid variable stars and used it to determine distances to globular clusters. He boldly and correctly proclaimed that globulars outline the Milky Way and the galaxy's center was thousands of light years away in the direction of Sagittarius.

Director McMath-Hulbert Observatory

Served as chairman of the association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. The National Solar Observatory is the crowning achievement of Dr. McMath who was known for his expertise in solar physics and building solar telescopes. The observatory is co-named along with Dr. Pierce.

Berkley Astronomical

Department Director
University of California

His research was in orbit theory, and he determined or refined the orbits of numerous asteroids and comets, but his most important contribution to astronomy was as an educator.

Professor of Astronomy,
University of Lund, Sweden

Plotted the radial velocity galaxies against their estimated distances. He made rough determinations of the distances to other galaxies by comparing their sizes and brightness to that of M31. Lundmark concluded that there may be a relationship between galactic red-shift and distance, but "not a very definite one." 1924

Director Cook Observatory

Investigator in Astronomical Science, The observatory named for Dr. Cook; now named the Flower and Cook Observatory, is one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in America: Founded in 1895. Originally in Malverne PA, and now relocated on the University of Pennsylvania Campus atop the David Rittenhouse Laboratory. goes here

Director Emeritus, Sproul Observatory

Secretary,
American Association for the
Advancement of Science

Director Yerkes Observatory

April 16, 1952 Kuiper discovered two moons of planets: Uranus’s moon Miranda in 1948 and Neptune’s moon Nereid in 1949. In 1944 he discovered that Saturn’s moon Titan had an atmosphere of methane. He is considered the father of modern planetary science. He was chief scientist for the Ranger lunar-probe program and identified landing sites for the Apollo moon missions. His greatest contribution was the prediction in 1951 that a belt of minor planets existed outside Neptune’s orbit that was the source of short-period comets. This belt, now called the Kuiper Belt is also the location of possible other planets.

Director Harvard Observatory

There he studied the Magellanic clouds and made catalogs of galaxies. He wrote many books and was an important popularizer of science. He founded and developed an outstanding graduate school. Cofounder of UNESCO, he played a major role in national and international affairs.

President International Astronomical Union:

He made detailed spectroscopic investigations of stars. He directed four observatories including McDonald which he founded and where a telescope is named for him.

Astronomer Royal of England

Apr. 22, 1955 From 1933 to 1955 Spencer Jones was the tenth Astronomer Royal. He determined the distance from Earth to the sun by triangulating the distance to the asteroid Eros, refining the near accurate measurement made by David Rittenhouse in 1769. He published a paper in 1939 showing that the Earth’s rotation was not uniform and could no longer be used as an accurate clock. He worked at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich and supervised its move to Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex.

Director Princeton University Observatory

He was the first to propose putting a large telescope in space. The Hubble Space Telescope was based on his concepts. The Infrared Spitzer Space Telescope was named for him.

Professor; Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton:

Known for his theory of the ionized gas clouds around hot stars. He calculated the relative abundances of the elements in the sun and other stars

Plumian Professor of Astronomy, Cambridge University

He coined the term Big Bang but never accepted that theory for the origin of the universe. Hoyle believed in the steady-state theory. He advanced a theory that infections on Earth resulted from microorganisms arriving from distant places in the universe.

Professor Harvard University:

The first woman to become a full professor at Harvard University. Her dissertation was said to be the best one in 20th century astronomy. She was ahead of her time showing that hydrogen and helium were a major constituent of stars.

Director Sproul Observatory, Swarthmore College

He studied nearby stars measuring their movements. He started a search for planets orbiting other stars. He was the president of the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society in 1944.

Professor; Princeton University

His book, "Structure and Evolution of the Stars," was used by astrophysicists to apply computers to the computation of stellar models. His Stratosphere project sent balloons with instruments to obtain data of the sun, other stars and planets of our solar system in the 1950s and 1960s.

Harvard Observatory

Encouraged women to study and enter the science profession. She developed techniques for measuring the distance to galaxies beyond the Milky Way. Her research was on variable stars in globular clusters. She was program director for the National Science Foundation, first female president of the Royal Canadian Institute and founded the Canadian Astronomical Society. In 1976 she became a Companion of the Order of Canada-one of the highest honors in the nation.

He found the first optical counterpart to a radio source that would be identified as a quasar. His research has been in stellar astronomy and observational cosmology. He was involved in determining the ages of the oldest objects known.