Walter Orr Roberts
| Walter Orr Roberts | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Born |
August 20, 1915 West Bridgwater, Massachusetts |
| Died | August 12, 1990 (aged 74) Boulder, Colorado |
| Fields | Astronomy |
| Institutions |
1946-1961 Director, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder and Climax, Colorado 1956-1990 Professor of Astrogeophysics, University of Colorado (active, on leave or emeritus) 1960-1968 Director, National Center for Atmospheric Research 1960-1973 Chief Executive Officer and President, University Corporation for Scientific Research 1968-1969 President, American Association for the Advancement of Science 1974-1981 Director, program on Food, Climate and the World's Future, Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies |
| Alma mater |
Amherst College, B.A. 1938 (physics) Harvard University, M.A. 1940, Ph.D. 1943 (astrophysics) |
| Notable awards |
Phi Beta Kappa, 1938 Hodgkins medal, Smithsonian Institution, 1973 International Environmental Leadership Medal, United Nations, 1982 United Nations Environment Programme, North American Leadership Medal, 1989 |
| Spouse | Janet Naomi Smock |
| Children | David Roberts Alan, Jonathan, and Jennifer (McCarthy). |
1946-1961 Director, High Altitude Observatory, Boulder and Climax, Colorado
1956-1990 Professor of Astrogeophysics, University of Colorado (active, on leave or emeritus)
1960-1968 Director, National Center for Atmospheric Research
1960-1973 Chief Executive Officer and President, University Corporation for Scientific Research
1968-1969 President, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Amherst College, B.A. 1938 (physics)
Phi Beta Kappa, 1938
Hodgkins medal, Smithsonian Institution, 1973
International Environmental Leadership Medal, United Nations, 1982
Walter Orr Roberts (August 20, 1915 – March 12, 1990) was an American astronomer and atmospheric physicist, as well as an educator, philanthropist, and builder. He received his doctorate in astronomy from Harvard University in 1943.
From 1940 – 1946 he was superintendent of the Climax Observing Station, Harvard College Observatory, in Climax Colorado. This site was chosen by Donald H. Menzel in 1939; Menzel also supervised the construction of the observatory and residence on the mining property of the Climax Molybdenum Company. The observatory was installed with a coronagraph in 1940, which had been developed and tested at the Oakridge Station of Harvard College Observatory (it was patterned after one developed by Bernard Lyot in the 1930s in France). At the Harvard College Observatory in Climax (elevation 11,520 feet), Roberts observed and concluded that changes in the corona affected radio communications, and in fact these changes provided advance warning of communication disturbances. This became important for WWII wartime security and the observatory work was classified and overseen by the Navy during this period. In 1945, after WWII, the National Bureau of Standards contracted the observatory for reports on solar activity. In 1946, the Climax Harvard College Observatory incorporated with the University of Colorado under CU President Robert L. Stearns’ tenure and was renamed the High Altitude Observatory (HAO). At that time, he became the founding director of the High Altitude Observatory (HAO), and remained the director until 1961. HAO launched an Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Relations in January 1956 for a four-year period “to study the effects of the sun on weather with the hope that from this work would come an improvement in weather or climate forecasting based on analysis of variations in the emissions from the sun.” Subsequently he was the founding president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and first director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).
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