James Adolph Westphal (June 13, 1930 – September 8, 2004) was an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosoph ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

, inventor and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

and Director of Caltech's Palomar Observatory from 1994 through 1997.Danielson, G. Edward
"Obituary: James Adolph Westphal, 1930-2004,"
''Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,'' Vol. 36, No. 5, p. 1687-1688. His participation played an important role in designing the main camera for the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

.Maugh, Thomas H
"James A. Westphal, 74; Caltech Scientist Had Gift for Innovation,"
''Los Angeles Times.'' September 11, 2004.

Caltech

Westphal began his career at

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1961. His first job as senior engineer; and he remained at the Institute for the remainder of his career. He came to Caltech initially on a four-month leave of absence from Sinclair Research Labs in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, but never left. "Maverick Scientist and Instrument Builder James Westphal Dies,"SpaceRef
September 15, 2004. In 1971, Westphal joined the Caltech faculty an associate professor of planetary science; and he was named professor in 1976. Across a span of years, Westphal's interest in ground-based projects caused him to decline invitations to turn his attention to astronomical work, but when he finally agreed, his commitment and enthusiasm was unrestrained. Former graduate student Richard Terrile remembers that Westphal "not only taught me about astronomy and science, but also about more down-to-earth topics like self-reliance, dealing with people, and how to keep focused when things go bad. Jim had a wonderful way of reducing a problem to its most basic form. He said, 'There are always two ways to deal with a problem: You can get angry and upset and then try and fix it, or you can just fix it. Which way would you rather work on it?'". "Obituary: James A. Westphal, 1930-2004,"
Caltech, Engineering & Science. In addition to tenure, Westphal's talents earned him a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

in 1991—all without a Ph.D.

Palomar

In 1973, Westphal built a silicon-intensified target camera for the 200-inch Hale Telescope at Palomar. The innovation was 20 times more sensitive to light than the photographic film then being used. That camera is now in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum collection.

Gerry Neugebauer Gerhart "Gerry" Neugebauer (3 September 1932 – 26 September 2014) was an American astronomer known for his pioneering work in infrared astronomy. Neugebauer was born in Göttingen, Germany and was the son of Otto Neugebauer, an Austrian-Amer ...

, who was Westphal's predecessor as Director of Palomar Observatory, explained, "What I liked most about Jim was how much he enjoyed science. He did fun stuff superbly and was interested in the way things really worked. Whatever he did, he saw new applications in totally different fields and was not afraid to try out a new technique or idea." This approach had consequences; and over his career he wrote 133 scientific papers.

Awards and honors

* On July 1, 1996, the main-belt asteroid 1983 AD, discovered by B. A. Skiff on January 9, 1983, was renamed (6173) Jimwestphal in Westphal's honor.

Selected works

* 1991 -
''Wide Field/planetary Camera: Final Orbital/science Verification Report''
with S M Faber, Wide Field/Planetary Camera Investigation Definition Team. Baltimore, Maryland: Space Telescope Science Institute (U.S.)
OCLC 25677856

Notes

References

* Smith, Robert William and Paul A. Hanle. (1989)
''The space telescope: a study of NASA, science, technology, and politics.''
Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

External links

* NASA/

National Space Science Data Center The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. "Space science" includes astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and planetary and lunar science. A ...

(

NSSDC The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive (NSSDCA) serves as the permanent archive for NASA space science mission data. "Space science" includes astronomy and astrophysics, solar and space plasma physics, and planetary and lunar science. As ...

Westphal
* NASA Technical Research Service ( NTRS)
Westphal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westphal, James American astronomers 20th-century American physicists California Institute of Technology faculty University of Tulsa alumni 1930 births 2004 deaths MacArthur Fellows