| | 1 | Name: | Dr. Maarten Schmidt | | | Institution: | California Institute of Technology | | | Year Elected: | 2000 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Deceased
| | | Birth Date: | 1929 | | | Death Date: | September 17, 2022 | | | | | | |
Maarten Schmidt's discovery of the true distance of quasi-stellar objects expanded the dimensions of the known universe at the time (1963) by many orders of magnitude. His early work in galactic structure and in developing mass models for the Galaxy is also of great import. Dr. Schmidt and his collaborators have carried out several innovative surveys for quasars, improving in sensitivity and probing further in space as technological improvements permitted. He developed an optimal statistical technique (the V/V max test) for estimating the mean distance of a complete brightness limited sample, which has found widespread application in many fields. In 2008 he was awarded the first Kavli Prize in astrophysics for this work. In addition to holding many administrative positions within the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Schmidt served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 1984-86 and as Chair of the Board of Directors of the Association of Universities Research in Astronomy from 1992-95. He has been Francis L. Moseley Professor of Astronomy Emeritus at Cal Tech since 1996. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. J. Anthony Tyson | | | Institution: | University of California, Davis | | | Year Elected: | 2000 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1940 | | | | | | |
J. Anthony Tyson received a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Wisconsin in 1967. He joined the technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1969 and was Distinguished Member of Technical Staff (now Lucent Technologies) from 1985-2004. Since 2004 he has been Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics at University of California, Davis. He is currently director of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope project. Dr. Tyson's research emphasis has been in experimental gravitation and cosmology. Applying advanced imaging with CCDs, he discovered "faint blue galaxies." Using this backdrop of billions of galaxies, he developed a technique for imaging foreground dark matter concentrations via their gravitational lensing of the distant galaxies. Gravitational lensing, it is believed, will go a long way toward solving the question of how much dark matter there is in the universe and where it is. Eventually, gravitational lensing will help to understand how structure formed in the universe. Dr. Tyson is the recipient of the Gravity Research Foundation Essay Award (1970), IR100 Award, Industrial Research (1985), and the Aaronson Memorial Prize (1996). He is a member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2000. | |
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