George Wallerstein (January 13, 1930[1] – May 13, 2021[2]) was an American astronomer who researched the chemical composition of stellar atmospheres.[3] The son of German immigrants, he was raised in New York City during the Great Depression. In school he developed an interest in boxing and won the senior class boxing award. He graduated from Brown University in 1951 before receiving his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology.[4]

George Wallerstein
Born13 January 1930 Edit this on Wikidata
New York City Edit this on Wikidata
Died13 May 2021 Edit this on Wikidata (aged 91)
Alma mater
Occupation
Spouse(s)Julie Lutz Edit this on Wikidata
Awards
Academic career
Institutions

He served in the Navy during the Korean War, then, after teaching at the University of California, joined the astronomy department of the University of Washington in 1965.[4] In March 1998, he retired from the University and was appointed Professor Emeritus.[5] At the time of his death, he was married to the astronomer Julie Lutz. He was the earliest user of the (α/Fe) versus (Fe/H) diagram notation, his paper using this notation was published in 1962.[6]

In 2002, he won the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship.[7] In 2004, he was presented the President's Award by the United Negro College Fund for his contributions to diversity.[4] He served on the Board of Directors for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Advisory Board[8] of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the research arm of Council for a Livable World.[9]

He was elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020.[10]

References

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  1. ^ George Wallerstein was born in New York City on January 13, 1930., June 22, 2021, retrieved 2021-06-30
  2. ^ On Earth or in space, George Wallerstein is remembered for his adventurous spirit, May 17, 2021, retrieved 2021-05-19
  3. ^ Seattle Astronomy group
  4. ^ a b c Chan, Sharon Pian (March 4, 2004), Black-college fund richer thanks to UW scholar, archived from the original on April 20, 2015, retrieved 2018-12-31.
  5. ^ Hogan, C. J. (January 1999), "University of Washington, Astronomy Department, Box 351580, Seattle, Washington 98195. Report for the period 1997 - 1998", Bulletin of the Astronomical Society, 31 (1): 637–642, Bibcode:1999BAAS...31..637H.
  6. ^ Wallerstein, George (1962-02-01). "Abundances in G. Dwarfs.VI. a Survey of Field Stars". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 6: 407. Bibcode:1962ApJS....6..407W. doi:10.1086/190067. ISSN 0067-0049.
  7. ^ "Grants, Prizes and Awards of the American Astronomical Society". American Astronomical Society. Archived from the original on 2010-12-22.
  8. ^ "Board". Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  9. ^ Armscontrolcenter.com Archived 2007-06-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ "AAS Fellows". aas.org. Retrieved 30 September 2020.