In this interview, Jon Phillips, Assistant Oral Historian for AIP, interviews Peter Gilman, Senior Scientist Emeritus in the High Altitude Observatory at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Gilman recounts his early interest and education in meteorology and introduction to solar physics as an undergraduate, and his graduate research on solar dynamics with Victor Starr at MIT. He describes his early work at the University of Colorado and his move to, and rapid ascent at the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Gilman discusses his leadership role as Director of NCAR’s Advanced Study Program, and his own ongoing research in magnetohydrodynamics and helioseismology, followed by an overview of the history of NCAR, the High Altitude Observatory, and the relocation of the National Solar Observatory to Boulder. Gilman goes on to discuss the state of solar dynamo theory and solar-cycle activity predictions, in particular the predictions for solar cycles 24 and 25. The last portion of the interview focuses on the many “firsts” Gilman contributed to the field, particularly in magnetohydrodynamic modeling of the sun.
