IAU-URSI HISTORICAL RADIO ASTRONOMY WORKING GROUP

Biographical Memoirs

The intent of the Biographical Memoirs of the Working Group is to provide a collection of short biographies of our deceased colleagues documenting their professional contributions in radio astronomy. We do not aspire to create an exhaustive collection of in-depth biographies. If we are the first to publish a memoir (ahead of AAS, IAU, etc.), we request that you ask our (and our author's) permission to re-publish. If a memoir has been published elsewhere (AAS, Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society, etc.), we will normally post a link to the existing memoir rather than creating a new one. We will occasionally, with permission, re-publish a memoir from elsewhere; we make decisions to do so on a case-by-case basis. We routinely provide memoirs of IAU members written for this page to the IAU for inclusion on the main IAU Web site.

• Kenji A. Akabane, 1927-2015 (Contributed by Masato Ishiguro)
• Ronald J. Allen, 1940-2020 (Contributed by Piet van der Kruit)
• Wilhelm Altenhoff, 1933-2017, (Contributed by Anton Zensus and Richard Wielebinski)
• Bryan Anderson, 1939-2020 (Contributed by Ralph E. Spencer and Simon T. Garrington)
• Donald C. Backer, 1943-2010 (Contributed by James M. Moran). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Donald C. Backer in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Esteban Bajaja, 1931-2015 (Contributed by Kiko Testori and Richard Wielebinski)
• John E. Baldwin, 1931-2010 (Contributed by Malcolm Longair)
• Alan H. Barrett, 1927-1991 (Contributed by Philip C. Myers, James M. Moran, and Paul T. P. Ho)
• Lloyd Berkner, 1905-1967, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences
• Leo Blitz, 1945-2022, see AAS obituary.
• Émile-Jacques Blum, 1923-2009 (Contributed by James Lequeux)
• John G. Bolton, 1922-1993, see Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 and March 1978 interviews with Bolton.
• Roy Booth, 1938-2024 (Contributed by John Conway, Andrzej Kus, Justin Jonas, and Richard Schilizzi)
• Ronald N. Bracewell, 1921-2007, see Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III January 1980 interview with Bracewell, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of Ronald N. Bracewell in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Semion Braude, 1911-2003
• Norman W. Broten, 1921-2015, see obituary on AAS Web site. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1978 interview with Broten.
• Robert L. Brown, 1943-2014 (Contributed by Paul A. Vanden Bout). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Robert L. Brown in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Bernard F. Burke, 1928-2018 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton and Kenneth I.) See also the Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Sciences, the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III January 1972 and September 1981 interviews with Burke, as well as the transcript of the June 2012 Burke interview by K.I. Kellermann, and the Finding Aid to the Papers of Bernard F. Burke in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Martha Stahr Carpenter, 1920-2013 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Martha Stahr Carpenter in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• James L. Caswell, 1940-2015 (Contributed by Simon Johnston and Jessica Chapman)
• Diego Alberto Cesarsky, 1941-2021, see IAU obituary contributed by Jean Audouze.
• Wilbur "Chris" Christiansen, 1913-2007, see Historical Records of Australian Science. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Christiansen.
• Thomas A. Clark, 1939-2021 (Contributed by David B. Shaffer, with assistance from Brian E. Corey, Alan E. E. Rogers, and Nancy R. (Vandenberg) Rowland)
• Jim Cohen, 1948-2006 (Contributed by Alan Pedlar, Anita Richards and Busaba Kramer)
• Nannielou Reier Hepburn Dieter Conklin, 1926-2014 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton, Claire Hooker, and Miller Goss). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Nannielou Hepburn Dieter Conklin in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Carman Costain, 1932-1989 (Contributed by Alan Bridle). See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III March 1974 interview with Costain.
• Nichi D'Amico, 1953-2020 (Contributed by Andrea Possenti)
• Rodney Deane Davies, 1930-2015 (Contributed by Clive Dickinson) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Davies.
• Richard Davis, 1949-2016 (Contributed by Ralph Spencer)
• Ger de Bruyn, 1948-2017 (Contributed by Thijs van der Hulst)
• David De Young, 1940-2011, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Jean-François Denisse, 1915-2014 (Contributed by James Lequeux) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III July 1976 interview with Denisse.
• William A. Dent, 1938-2020 (Contributed by William Irvine)
• Robert Dicke, 1916-1997, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III June 1976 and January 1979 interviews with Dicke.
• Robert L. Dickman, 1947-2024 (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann) See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Robert L. Dickman in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Frank D. Drake, 1930-2022 (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann). See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1978 and April 1979 interviews with Drake, as well as the Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Sciences by Kellermann.
• Boris Adolfovich Dubinsky, 1929-2019 (Contributed by Rustam Dagkesamansky)
• Graeme Reade Anthony Ellis, 1921-2011 (Contributed by Martin George)
• Shinzo Enome, 1939-2011 (Contributed by Masato Ishiguro)
• William Clarence "Bill" Erickson, 1930-2015 (Contributed by Namir Kassim, Robert Hanisch, and Tom Gergely)
• Ray Escoffier, 1940-2021, see obituary on the AAS Web site. See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Raymond P. Escoffier in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Harold I. "Doc" Ewen, 1922-2015 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton and Kenneth I. Kellermann) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1979 interview with Ewen, as well as the Web resource on H.I. (Doc) Ewen in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Roberto Fanti, 1941-2023 (Contributed by Paola Parma and Hans de Ruiter)
• István Fejes, 1939-2011 (Contributed by Sandor Frey)
• Paul A. Feldman, 1940-2020 (Contributed by Douglas Scott)
• John W. Findlay, 1915-1994 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1981 interview with Findlay, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of John W. Findlay in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Andrei Finkelstein, 1941-2011 (Contributed by Colleagues at Institute of Applied Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences)
• Kenneth Franklin, 1923-2007, See New York Times
• John A. Galt, 1925-2012 (Contributed by Sean Dougherty, Tom Landecker, Tim Robishaw) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III June 1973 interview with Galt.
• Mike Gaylard, 1952-2014 (Contributed by Ludwig Combrinck)
• Janusz Gil, 1951-2014 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski)
• Lev Gindilis, 1932-2021 (Contributed by Leonid Gurvits)
• Riccardo Giovanelli, 1946-2022, see obituaries on AAS Web site and in Cornell Chronicle.
• Jesús Gómez González, 1948-2024 (Contributed by Pablo De Vicente
• Mark A. Gordon, 1937-2024
• William E. Gordon, 1918-2010 (Contributed by Marshall H. Cohen) See also the Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Sciences and the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1978 interview with Gordon.
• Stanisław Gorgolewski, 1926-2011 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski and Andrzej Kus)
• Jesse Greenstein, 1909-2002, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1975 and January 1980 interviews with Greenstein.
• Albert Greve, 1938-2011 (Contributed by Jeff Mangum based on material provided by Dennis Downes, Pierre Cox, Michel Guelin, and Albert's daughter, Sophie)
• Gavril Grueff, 1942-2022 (Contributed by Luigina Feretti and Giancarlo Setti)
• Otto Hachenberg, 1911-2001, see Advances in Radio Science. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III February 1973 interview with Hachenberg.
• Frederick Haddock, 1919-2009, see University Record [University of Michigan].
• John P. Hagen, 1908-1990, see Astronautix. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Hagen.
• David Hall ( -2024)
• Robert Hanbury Brown, 1916-2002, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society.
• Daniel E. Harris, 1934-2015 (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann)
• Glyn Haslam, 1936-2013 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski)
• David S. Heeschen, 1926-2012 (Contributed by David E. Hogg and Kenneth I. Kellermann) See also the Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Sciences, the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III December 1973 interview with Heeschen, transcripts of the May 2011 and July 2011 Heeschen interviews by K.I. Kellermann, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of David S. Heeschen in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Antony Hewish, 1924-2021, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Hewish.
• J. Stanley Hey, 1909-2000, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society.
• Lloyd Higgs, 1937-2020
• Richard Hills, 1945-2022, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society.
• Robert W. Hobbs, 1938-2013 (Contributed by Kenneth Johnston and Stephen Maran)
• William E. Howard III, 1932-2016 (Contributed by Stephen P. Maran) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III September 1971 interview with Howard, as well as the transcript of the September 2011 Howard interview by K.I. Kellermann.
• G. Richard Huguenin, 1937-2012 (contributed by William Irvine)
• Richard W. Hunstead, 1943-2020, (Contributed by Anne Green)
• Yuri Petrovich Ilyasov, 1933-2010 (Contributed by Leonid Gurvits)
• Karl G. Jansky, 1905-1950 (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann and Ellen N. Bouton). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Karl G. Jansky in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Roger C. Jennison, 1922-2006 (Contributed by Ralph Spencer)
• May Arif Kaftan-Kassim, 1928-2020 (Contributed by Jaap Baars)
• Vijay Kapahi, 1944-1999, see the obituary originally published in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy and reproduced in Current Science.
• Nikolai Kardashev, 1932-2019, see obituary in Physics Today. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1978 interview with Kardashev.
• Jet Katgert, 1943-2020 (Contributed by Harm Habing)
• Pierre Kaufmann, 1938-2017, see obituary (in Portuguese) in Revista Pesquisa.
• Frank Kerr, 1918-2000, see obituary in Physics Today
• John D. Kraus, 1910-2004 (Contributed by Ellen N. Bouton and Kenneth I. Kellermann) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III March 1975 interview with Kraus, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of John D. Kraus in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Philipp Paul Kronberg, 1939-2023 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski)
• Mukul R. Kundu, 1930-2010 (Contributed by Nat Gopalswamy)
• Marc Kutner, 1947-2020, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Arkadii Kuzmin, 1923-2009 (Contributed by Rustam Dagkesamanskii)
• Norman Labrum, 1921-2011 (Contributed by Wayne Orchiston)
• Adair Lane, 1949-2017, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Thomas H. Legg, 1929-2011 (Contributed by Joseph R. Fletcher)
• A. Edward Lilley, 1928-2020 (Contributed by James M. Moran) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1979 interview with Lilley.
• Alec G. Little, 1925-1985, see tribute by B.Y. Mills in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia
• Roger Linfield, 1954-2020, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Kwok-Yung (Fred) Lo, 1947-2016 (Contributed by Paul Vanden Bout and Anneila Sargent). See also the Finding Aid to the Papers of Fred K.Y. Lo in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Sir Bernard Lovell, 1913-2012 (Contributed by Ralph Spencer) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III September 1976 interview with Lovell.
• Jean-Pierre Macquart, 1974-2020 (Contributed by David Jauncey and Don Melrose)
• Jósef Masłowski, 1931-2020 (Contributed by Krzysztof Chyży and Richard Wielebinski)
• Leonid Ivanovich Matveenko, 1929-2019 (Contributed by Vladimir Kostenko)
• Alan Maxwell, 1926-2021, see obituary on AAS Web site. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III May 1973 interview with Maxwell.
• David Meier, 1949-2023 (Contributed by David Murphy)
• Karl M. Menten, 1957-2024
• Peter Georg Mezger, 1928-2014 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III November 1973 interview with Mezger.
• Bernard Y. Mills, 1920-2011, see Historical Records of Australian Science. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Mills.
• Marat G. Mingaliev, 1953-2024 (contributed by Yulia Sotnikova)
• Alan T. Moffet, 1936-1987 (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann)
• Masaki Morimoto, 1932-2010 (Contributed by Hisashi Hirabayashi)
• Ian Morison, 1943-2024 (Contributed by Ralph Spencer)
• Koh-Ichiro Morita, 1954-2012 (Contributed by Masato Ishiguro)
• David Morris ( -2023)
• Nan Rendong, 1945-2016 (Contributed by Bo Peng)
• Nguyen Quang Rieu, 1932-2021 (Contributed by James Lequeux)
• Samuel Ejikeme Okoye, 1939-2009, see Astronomy & Geophysics, with an additional recollection here.
• Katarzyna Otmianowska-Mazur, 1957-2020 (Contributed by Marian Soida)
• Lucia Padrielli, 1943-2003 (Contributed by Luigina Feretti)
• Yurii Pariiskii, 1932-2021
• Joseph L. Pawsey, 1908-1962, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society.
• Ruby Payne-Scott, 1912-1981, see CSIROpedia
• Arno Penzias, 1933-2024, see the PNAS Biographical Memoir. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III January 1974 interview with Penzias.
• Thomas G. Phillips, 1937-2022, see obituary on AAS Web page.
• John Ponsonby, 1939-2021 (Contributed by Ian Browne and Simon Lavington)
• Eugen Preuss, 1937-2017 (Contributed by Anton Zensus)
• Ed Purcell, 1912-1997, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III November 1977 interview with Purcell.
• Venkataraman Radhakrishnan, 1929-2011 (Contributed by Rajaram Nityananda and Miller Goss)
• Ernst Raimond, 1932-2010 (Contributed by Jan Noordam)
• Steven Rawlings, 1961-2012 (Contributed by Katherine Blundell)
• Vladimir Razin, 1931-2010
• Grote Reber, 1911-2002, see Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III October 1975 and March 1978 interviews with Reber, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of Grote Reber in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Edward "Ted" Reifenstein, 1937-2023 (Adapted by Ellen Bouton from an obituary in MIT News)
• Lee J Rickard, 1949-2017 (Prepared by Kenneth I. Kellermann, with contributions from Patricia Henning, Jackie Fischer, and Ellen Bouton)
• Jouko Ritakari, 1956-2013 (Contributed by Ari Mujunen and Merja Tornikoski)
• Morton S. Roberts, 1926-2024, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1972 interview with Roberts, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of Morton S. Roberts in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Brian Robinson, 1930-2004, see Australian Academy of Science.
• Kristen Rohlfs, 1930-2017 (Contributed by T.L: Wilson, R-J. Dettmar, and R.Wielebinski)
• Robert T. Rood, 1942-2011 (Contributed by John Hawley)
• Olof Rydbeck, 1911-1999, see Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III September 1978 interview with Rydbeck.
• Martin Ryle, 1918-1984, see Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 and June 1981 interviews with Ryle.
• Aleksander Efimovich Salomonovich, 1916-1989, contributed by Rustam Dagkesamansky. See also the notes from the W.T. Sullivan III 11 December 1980 interview and the transcript of Sullivan's 17 August 1981 interview with Salomonovich.
• Vagharshak Sanamian, 1917-2010 (Adapted from the Armenain Astronomical Society Newsletter, Vol. 41)
• Peter A.G. Scheuer, 1930-2001 (Contributed by John Peacock). See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III August 1976 interview with Scheuer.
• John Seiradakis, 1948-2020 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski)
• John Shakeshaft, 1929-2015 (Contributed by Richard Wielebinski)
• Iosif Shklovsky, 1916-1985 (Contributed by N.S. Kardashev and L.S. Marochnik)
• Gennady Borisovich Sholomitsky, 1939-1999 (Contributed by Anna Sholomitskaya and Gennady Sholomitsky's IKI colleagues)
• Sue Simkin, 1940-2021.
• Bruce Slee, 1924-2016, see Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III March 1978 interview with Slee.
• Vyacheslav Ivanovich Slysh, 1935-2008 (Contributed by Leonid Gurvits)
• Lewis E. Snyder, 1939-2021 (Contributed by Anthony Remijan and Philip R. Jewell)
• Roman L. Sorochenko, 1924-2017 (Contributed by Sergei Gulyaev)
• Titus Spoelstra, 1945-2010 (Contributed by Hugo van Woerden)
• Gordon J. Stanley, 1921-2001, see Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III June 1974 and August 1981 interviews with Stanley.
• Jean-Louis Steinberg, 1922-2016 (Contributed by James Lequeux)
• Otto Struve, 1897-1963, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences
• Govind Swarup, 1929-2020 (Published in the Radio Science Bulletin No. 373 in January 2021, and used with permission of the International Union of Radio Science, URSI). Also see Govind Swarup : Book of Memories and Tributes.
• George Swenson Jr., 1922-2017 (Contributed by James M. Moran)
• Yervant Terzian, 1939-2019 (Contributed by Bruce Balick, Don Campbell, and George Helou)
• Patrick Thaddeus, 1932-2017 (Contributed by James M. Moran and Thomas Dame)
• A. Richard Thompson, 1931-2024 (Additions by James M. Moran to autobiographical notes written by Thompson in 2007). See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III May 1978 interview with Thompson, as well as the Finding Aid to the Papers of A. Richard Thompson in the NRAO/AUI Archives.
• Jaap Tinbergen, 1934-2010 (Contributed by Hugo van Woerden)
• Gianni Tofani, 1938-2015 (Contributed by Luigina Feretti)
• Barry Turner, 1935-2008, see obituary on AAS Web site by Alan Bridle.
• Merle A. Tuve, 1901-1982, see Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Sciences. See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III December 1973 interview with Tuve.
• Hendrik van de Hulst, 1918-2000, see Bruce Medalists. See also the transcripts of the W.T. Sullivan III January 1971, November 1973, and September 1978 interviews with van de Hulst.
• Hugo van Woerden, 1926-2020, (Contributed by the Kapteyn Institute, University of Groningen)
• Mario Vigotti, 1943-2021 (Contributed by Gavril Grueff)
• Viktor Vitkevich, 1917-1972 (Contributed by Rustam Dagkesamanskii)
• Campbell M. Wade, 1930-2024, (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann et al.) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III May 1978 interview with Wade, the transcript of the December 2003 interview by Robyn Harrison, and the transcript of the March 2015 interview by K.I. Kellermann.
• Jasper V. Wall, 1942-2024 (Contributed by John Peacock).
• Charles Malcolm Walmsley, 1941-2017 (Contributed by T.L. Wilson and R. Wielebinski)
• Dennis Walsh, 1933-2005, see Astronomy and Geophysics obituary.
• James Warwick 1924-2013, (Contributed by Kenneth I. Kellermann)
• Harold F. Weaver, 1917-2017, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Kurt W. Weiler, 1943-2016, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• William (Jack) Welch, 1934-2024, see obituary on AAS Web site.
• Gart Westerhout, 1927-2012 (Contributed by William E. Howard III) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III November 1973 interview with Westerhout, as well as transcripts of the 7-session 1993 interview of Westerhout by Steven Dick.
• J. Paul Wild, 1923-2008 (Contributed by R.D. Ekers and R H. Frater) See also the transcript of the W.T. Sullivan III March 1978 interview with Wild.
• Gisbert Winnewisser, 1936-2011 (Contributed by Jürgen Stutzki and Richard Wielebinski)
• J.L. (Allen) Yen, 1925-1993 (Contributed by Wayne Cannon)
• Qifeng Yin, 1936-2016 (Contributed by Jim Condon)

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