Description
The scientific notebooks, photographic slides, course notes, material from the LIGO controversy and papers from the Palomar
and Keck observatories of Gerry Neugebauer (born in 1932) form the collection known as the Gerry Neugebauer Papers in the
Archives of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Background
Gerry Neugebauer was born in Göttingen, Germany, in 1932, the son of Otto Neugebauer. After moving to the United States he
received his AB degree from Cornell University in 1954 and his PhD in physics from Caltech in 1960. He joined the Caltech
faculty in 1962 as an assistant professor, becoming a full professor of physics in 1970. He served as the director of the
Palomar Observatory from 1980, and he was named Howard Hughes Professor in 1985. Currently Dr. Neugebauer is the Emeritus
Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Physics. Neugebauer is internationally recognized as a pioneer in infrared astronomy,
and has played a leading role in infrared studies of the planets. In addition—and largely through his activities with the
Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IRAS)—he has led both ground- and
space-based infrared studies of the stars, the Milky Way and other galaxies. Observations by him and his colleagues at Mount
Wilson and Palomar observatories have revealed hundreds of new infrared sources in the sky, and afforded the first infrared
view of the galactic center. He also played a major role in the design and construction of the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Among Neugebauer’s numerous awards are two NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medals (1972, 1984), the 1985 Space Science
Award of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the 1985 Richmyer Lecture Award. He was named California
Scientist of the Year for 1986 by the Californian Museum of Science and Industry, and he has been elected to the National
Academy of the Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Astronomical
Society.
Restrictions
Copyright may not have been assigned to the California Institute of Technology Archives. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on
behalf of the California Institute of Technology Archives as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.