Interview with George Withbroe, retired science program director at NASA. Withbroe provides an overview of his childhood in Wisconsin where he enjoyed hunting and archery with his family. He discusses his undergraduate studies at MIT, which he remembers as being a highly competitive environment. Withbroe explains the impact of Sputnik on his interest in space science, leading him to pursue graduate studies in astronomy at the University of Michigan. He recalls discovering the joy of teaching during this time, as well as a memorable summer job at the NASA Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center). Withbroe then describes his postdoctoral position at Harvard, working on the satellite program and the Orbiting Solar Observatories. He recounts his transition to the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and his involvement in Skylab. Withbroe discusses going back to Harvard where he served as director of the Solar and Stellar Physics Division, before moving to NASA as the Director of the Space Physics Division. Withbroe covers topics such as securing funding for research, collaborations with the international scientific community, and the importance of diversity in science. He discusses his retirement from NASA and continuing his research at George Mason University. The interview concludes with Withbroe’s reflections on the many advisory committees he has served on, as well as his thoughts on the relationship between religion and science.
American Institute of Physics, College Park, Maryland
Abstract
Dr. George Doschek, retired scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), is interviewed at the American Center for Physics in College Park, Maryland, by Ryan Hearty, oral history fellow at the American Institute of Physics. Doschek describes his early life in Pittsburgh and later career, spanning five decades, at the NRL in Washington, DC. Subjects include: Doschek’s childhood in Pittsburgh, growing up in a household supportive of music and science; undergraduate and doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh; coming to NRL and early activities in solar physics; work on spectroscopy at NRL, including on the missions OSO-1 to OSO-8, the 11 SOLRAD satellites, Skylab and the Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM), the P78-1 spacecraft, Yohkoh, and Hinode; and managing the Solar-Terrestrial Relationships Branch.
Jo Ann Joselyn discusses topics including her childhood in Colorado; influence of Sputnik, education at Colorado University in astrogeophysics; Julius London; John Firor; first job position at Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA); Tom Holzer; organizing SEIIM conferences; counting sunspots; women in science; International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA); election and work as secretary general of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUSS); solar cycle project; setting up space weather forecasting centers in other countries.
Elske van Panhuys Smith discusses topics including: her childhood in Monaco, Austria, Holland, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and the United States of America; undergraduate education at Radcliffe with Harlow Shapley; marriage to Henry Smith; graduate school in astronomy at Harvard University with Bart Bok; job interviews with Leo Goldberg, Jesse Greenstein, Carnegie Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM), Jack Evans; job offer at Sacramento Peak; reception from graduate professors concerning solar astronomy; family life and children in Alamogordo; High Altitude Observatory; fellowship at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder; move to Washington, DC for husband's job offer at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) headquarters; teaching position at the University of Maryland; American Astronomical Society (AAS) and the early years of the Solar Physics Division (SPD); discrimination against women in scence; Ed Dennison; Donald Menze; Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) teaching and administration in the College of Humanities and Science; research at the Naval Observatory and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff.
