John Monroe Van Vleck
John Monroe Van Vleck (born March 4, 1833 in Stone Ridge , New York , † November 4, 1912 in Middletown , Connecticut ) was an American astronomer .
Van Vleck studied at Wesleyan University , where he graduated in 1850. He then taught at the Greenwich Academy and was an assistant in the Nautical Almanac Office from 1851 to 1853 . In 1853 he became a professor of mathematics and from 1858 of mathematics and astronomy at Wesleyan University, where he retired in 1904 and was then professor emeritus until his death. 1872/73 and from 1887 to 1889 he was acting president of the university and from 1890 to 1893 its vice-president. In his capacity as president, he also brought Woodrow Wilson to the faculty.
In 1904 he was Vice President of the American Mathematical Society and a member of the German Astronomical Society . In 1876 he received a PhD (LL.D.) from Northwestern University . He was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science .
Van Vleck contributed to the American Nautical Almanac and published lunar and Saturn tables. In 1869 he took part in an eclipse expedition to Mount Pleasant, Iowa. He had been married to Ellen Maria Burr since 1854 (died 1899) and had a son, the mathematician Edward Burr Van Vleck , and three daughters. He is the grandfather of Nobel Prize winner John Hasbrouck Van Vleck .
The Van Vleck Observatory at Wesleyan University (as well as the Astronomy Chair) and a lunar crater are named after him.
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Vleck, John Monroe |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronomer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 4, 1833 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Stone Ridge , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 4, 1912 |
| Place of death | Middletown , Connecticut |