April 5, 1996 Contact: Robert Irion (408) 459-2495; irion@ua.ucsc.edu

ASTRONOMER ALBERT WHITFORD OF UC SANTA CRUZ TO RECEIVE PRESTIGIOUS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Albert E. Whitford, astronomer emeritus at the University of California Observatories/Lick Observatory and long recognized as one of the world's preeminent astronomers, will receive the 1996 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Medal from the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) in honor of his lifetime accomplishments.

Whitford, age 90, was director of Lick Observatory from 1958 to 1968 and remains a professor emeritus of astronomy and astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. He will receive the Bruce Medal at the ASP's annual meeting, scheduled for June in Santa Clara.

One of astronomy's oldest awards, the Bruce Medal was established by Catherine Wolfe Bruce of New York in 1898. The ASP bestows it annually to recognize distinguished service to astronomy. Its recipients form a roster of the century's greatest figures in the field, such as Henry Norris Russell, Harlow Shapley, George Ellery Hale, Edwin Hubble, and Fred Hoyle. Several Lick Observatory astronomers have won the award, including Donald Osterbrock in 1991.

Whitford is best known for his pioneering work in photoelectric photometry, which began with Joel Stebbins, also a Bruce Medal recipient. Trained in laboratory physics, Whitford greatly improved the sensitivity of photometers. This led to the first precise measurements of the magnitudes and colors of faint stars, clusters, and galaxies. The "Whitford Reddening Curve," which quantifies the interstellar absorption of light, proved vital in mapping the distribution of stars within our Milky Way. Whitford also studied the structures and dynamics of the spherical blobs of stars at the centers of galaxies, known as nuclear bulges.

Whitford played a key role in the growth of U.S. astronomy. He chaired a 1953 conference that led to the national observatory system, and he presided over a 1964 report from the National Academy of Sciences that laid out the first of a series of ten-year blueprints for the field.

Born in 1905 in Milton, Wisconsin, Whitford received a B.A. from Milton College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Wisconsin. He worked at Wisconsin's Washburn Observatory for 23 years, serving as its director from 1948 through 1958. Since retiring from Lick Observatory in 1968, he has continued to collaborate actively and publish papers with astronomers at the UCO/Lick faculty offices at UCSC.

The ASP, the oldest national astronomy group, is the main U.S. organization dedicated to astronomy education. It was established in 1889 by the first director of Lick Observatory and an Oakland schoolteacher. Today, the ASP has more than 7,000 members, hailing from all 50 states and about 70 other countries.

Editor's note: For a photo of Whitford, call the Public Information Office at (408) 459-2495.

This news release is also available on the World Wide Web at UCSC's "Services for Journalists" site (http://www.ucsc.edu/news/journalist.html) or via modem from UC NewsWire (209/244-6971).

Press Releases Home | Search Press Releases | Press Release Archive | Services for Journalists

Maintained by:pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu