Delbert E. Philpott (September 24, 1923 – December 11, 2005) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

soldier and scientist.http://fiskeworld.org/untitled2.html Born in Omro,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Philpott served in the Fighting 69th Infantry Division in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Philpott and was awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medals for his service. After the war, Philpott completed his bachelor's degree in Chemistry at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

in 1948 and a master's degree in 1949. At the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago he established the first electron microscope facility, before moving to the Marine Biological Lab and Institute for Muscle Research in Woods Hole, MA in 1952, where he was Head of Electron Microscopy, directing research projects under Nobel Laureate

Albert Szent-Györgyi Albert Imre Szent-Györgyi de Rapoltu Mare, Nagyrápolt (; September 16, 1893 – October 22, 1986) was a Hungarian biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with first isolating vitamin C and disc ...

in the winter and for the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole during the summer. Philpott was awarded his PhD in cytology in 1963 from

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and moved to the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

as Professor of Biochemistry until 1966, when he became Head of the Department of Electron Microscopy and Co-Director of the Institute for Biomedical Research at Mercy Hospital in Denver. He joined

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

as the head of the Ultrastructure Laboratory at the Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center, inspecting

lunar soil Lunar regolith is the unconsolidated material found on the selenography, surface of the Moon and in the Lunar atmosphere, Moon's tenuous atmosphere. Sometimes referred to as Lunar soil, Lunar soil specifically refers to the component of regoli ...

for any evidence of life. Experiments designed by Philpott were flown on both American and Russian spacecraft, including

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the eleventh and final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the sixth and most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on the Moon, ...

, Cosmos 736 and Cosmos 936. Philpott retired from NASA in 1990, but continued working under contract with the

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

Company at NASA Ames. Philpott authored over 230 scientific papers and wrote articles for several books and magazines in his scientific career. Philpott was one of ten veterans chosen as guests at the Russian government's 60th Anniversary Celebration of the end of World War II, seated at the table with President Putin and President Bush. He and his wife, Donna, also co-edited the book "Hands Across The Elbe", stories by American and Russian veterans about the link up in April 1945.

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Allies meet at Elbe photos from Corbis
1923 births 2005 deaths People from Omro, Wisconsin United States Army personnel of World War II Indiana University alumni University of Illinois Chicago people Boston University alumni University of Colorado Boulder faculty {{US-scientist-stub