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Guido Münch Paniagua (1921-06-09--2020-04-29) Guido Münch was recognized early in his career for his exceptional capability as both a theoretical and observational astrophysicist by such renowned scientists as Otto Struve and Nobel Physics laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Münch conducted research in infrared radiometry for NASA’s Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer planetary probes and made important contributions to the understanding of galactic structure, solar physics, and stellar atmosphere theory. Born in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, Münch is a descendent of California pioneer John (Johann) Sutter. His first recollection of exposure to astronomy was (aged 8 or 9 years) viewing the moon and Jupiter through a teacher's telescope as a reward for good behaviour and examining a Camille Flammarion guide to the night sky. Not wishing to be a medical doctor, a lawyer and disliking chemistry, Münch received his B.S. in civil engineering and mathematics (1938) and M.S. in mathematics (1944) from the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM) and a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Chicago (1946), which offered access to both Yerkes and McDonald Observatories. His thesis advisor was Chandrasekhar and his contemporaries included Nancy Roman. Upon graduation, Münch returned to Mexico to work at Tacubaya Observatory, but in 1947 accepted a position as Instructor at the University of Chicago and was later promoted to Assistant Professor. In 1950/1951, Münch considered a position at Lick Observatory:
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Lodewijk Woltjer (1930-04-26--2019-08-25) Lodewijk Woltjer was one of the most prominent and influential astronomers of his time. Born in Noordwijk, The Netherlands, his college career commenced at the University of Leiden circa 1946, and briefly touched on chemistry and geology, before turning to astronomy, with early papers on variable stars and on the solar chromosphere. His Ph. D., under the supervision of Jan H. Oort, awarded in 1957/1958, studied the optical polarization, magnetic field, and other attributes of the Crab Nebula. Woltjer's first postdoctoral appointment was at the University of Chicago's Yerkes Observatory, were he worked with Nobel Physics laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar on magnetic fields. Subsequently, Woltjer moved to Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study. Here, with Franz Kahn, Woltjer co-authored a (1959) paper on the mass of the Local Group, now regarded as a Dark Matter precursor. Woltjer returned to Leiden for two years initially as a research associate, then, in 1961, as professor of Astronomy and Plasma Physics. In 1964, Woltjer took up a professorship of astronomy, department chairmanship, and observatory directorship at Columbia University. In 1967 the American Astronomical Society (AAS) council appointed Woltjer to the editorship of the Astronomical Journal with a charge to "revitalize". The thesis paper of Virginia Trimble was published there during his term. Woltjer returned to Europe as the third, and longest-serving, Director General of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) 1975-1987. His career at ESO oversaw the design and early construction phases of the New Technology Telescope (NTT) --- a.k.a. "Unit Telescope 5". As Director General, he received approval by the ESO council for the construction of the VLT, and strongly advocated for Paranal as its optimal location. He also expressed reservations about the single-mirror format of the ELT, having strongly supported the four-telescope design of the VLT, because it permitted not only use as soon as one was commissioned but also up to four independent projects at one time, if the full collecting area was not required, and an interferometry mode. He was a founder and the first president of the European Astronomical Society (1990-1993) and served as President of the International Astronomical Union (1994-1997). Among the anecdotes and principles of his career, he insisted on alphabetical ordering of authors, that an astronomer should declare a five-year moratorium on their thesis topic before returning to it and is credited with uttering: |
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Virginia Trimble Virginia Trimble is Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UC Irvine and the oldest member of the department still on active duty. Virginia sponsored the Observational Astronomy Workshops in: 2013 & 2014 (in honor of Mary Lea & C. Donald Shane); 2015 (in honor of Rudolph L. Minkowski); 2016 (in honor of George H. Herbig); 2017 (in honor of Robert P. Kraft); 2018 (in honor of Anna Estelle Glancy and Emma Phoebe Waterman Hass); 2019 (in honor of Virginia Frances Farmer Trimble and Roy Stanley Farmer); 2020 (in honor of Margaret Burbidge). Virginia is a graduate of Hollywood High School, UCLA, and Caltech (PhD 1968) and holds an honorary M.A. degree from the University of Cambridge (UK) and dottora honoris causa from the University of Valencia (Spain). She has been involved in governance in AAS, APS, IAU, IUPAP, PBK, Sigma Xi, ASP and some other organizations and is currently interested in the structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the universe, and of the communities of scientists who study them. As a student at CalTech, Trimble modelled for Richard P. Feynman's artwork. For 16 years, Trimble read every astronomical paper published in 23 journals. Preceded by Vera Rubin, Trimble was the second woman to be granted research time with the 200-inch Hale telescope on Palomar mountain. Since the 1960s, as the spouse of gravitational wave astronomy pioneer Joseph Weber, Virginia has been integral to the development and fruition of this major new field, as acknowleged during the 2016-02-11 NSF press conference announcing the first direct detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO instrument. |
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Elinor Gates Elinor is a staff astronomer at Lick Observatory specializing in laser guide star adaptive optics and near infrared camera instrumentation and observations. She received her Ph.D. in Physics/Astronomy from the University of New Mexico in 1998. Her current research interests are studying quasars and their host galaxies. |
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Paul Lynam Paul is a staff astronomer at Lick Observatory. An amateur astronomer since childhood, after UK-based undergraduate studies, master's research and a Ph.D. in astrophysics (2000), he spent three years at the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE, Germany). Having attended research observatories worldwide, he then joined the European Southern Observatory (ESO, Germany) and two years later, relocated to Chile, supporting operations of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). He continued as a VLT operations astronomer until late 2010. His research includes giant galaxies, clusters of galaxies, large-scale structure and "cosmic flows." |
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Jon Rees Jon is a staff astronomer at Lick Observatory. He received a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Exeter in 2016, focussed on observations of young star clusters. He completed a joint postdoc position at the University of Arizona/UC San Diego, followed by a stint as observatory manager at New Mexico State University before joining Lick. His research interests cover the evolution of young stars, low-mass stars in globular clusters, and brown dwarfs. |
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Patrick Maloney Pat Maloney has been actively involved with Astronomy since he ground an 8-inch mirror and built his first telescope as a high school freshman. He has operated telescopes for public viewing programs at various colleges and universities. He currently teaches astronomy labs at Santa Clara University. For many years, Pat has also operated the 36-inch and 40-inch telescopes for Lick Observatory’s summer evening programs. |
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