| 1 | Name: | Dr. David S. Heeschen | |
| Institution: | National Radio Astronomy Observatory | ||
| Year Elected: | 1974 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Deceased | ||
| Birth Date: | 1926 | ||
| Death Date: | April 13, 2012 | ||
Radio astronomer David Sutphin Heeschen directed the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) from 1962-1978. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1954 and served as an instructor at Wesleyan University and as a lecturer and research associate at Harvard prior to joining NRAO as a scientist in 1956. He was director of the observatory from 1961 to 1978. Dr. Heeschen was deeply involved in the scientific aspects of studies at Green Bank, West Virginia, at the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico, and at the Kitt Peak Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. A member of the American Astronomical Society (president, 1980-82), the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Heeschen also served as a consultant to NASA (1960-62, 1968-72, 1979-80) and as research professor at the University of Virginia (1980-91). He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1974. He was Senior Scientist Emeritus at NRAO at the time of his death on April 13, 2012, at the age of 86. | |||