Rochus Eugen (Robbie) Vogt (born December 21, 1929) is a German-American physicist, famous as the director and principal investigator of the

LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Prior to LIG ...

project from 1987 to 1994.

Biography

Vogt studied from 1950 to 1952 at the

University of Karlsruhe The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; ) is both a German public university, public research university in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, and a research center of the Helmholtz Association. KIT was created in 2009 when the University of Ka ...

and from 1952 to 1953 at

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. In 1953, he came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in physics with a master's degree in 1957 and a PhD in 1961. His doctoral dissertation ''Primary cosmic-ray and solar protons'' was supervised by Peter Meyer. At

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

, Vogt was an assistant professor from 1962 to 1965, an associate professor from 1965 to 1970, a full professor from 1970 to 1982, and R. Stanton Avery Distinguished Service from 1982 to 2002, when he retired as professor emeritus. He was chair of Caltech's Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy from 1978 to 1983. He was the acting director of the

Owens Valley Radio Observatory Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) is a radio astronomy observatory located near Big Pine, California (US) in Owens Valley. It lies east of the Sierra Nevada, approximately north of Los Angeles and southeast of Bishop. It was established in 19 ...

from 1980–1981. He was a mentor to Michael Turner,

Neil Gehrels Cornelis A. "Neil" Gehrels (October 3, 1952 – February 6, 2017) was an American Astrophysics, astrophysicist specializing in the field of gamma-ray astronomy. He was Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flig ...

, and

Anneila Sargent Anneila Isabel Sargent (née Cassells; born 1942) is a Scottish–American astronomer who specializes in star formation. Biography Sargent was brought up in Burntisland, Fife, and schooled at Burntisland Primary School and Kirkcaldy High S ...

. Gehrels was one of Vogt's doctoral students. Vogt was a principal investigator of the Cosmic Ray Subsystem experiment of the Voyager mission. In 1992, he was elected a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

. Vogt married in 1958 and is the father of two daughters.

Selected publications

Articles

* * * * * * * * * *

Books

* (exercises for use with volume 1 of ''

The Feynman Lectures on Physics ''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on a great number of lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students ...

'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vogt, Rochus Eugen 1929 births Living people German astrophysicists Emigrants from West Germany to the United States 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American physicists University of Chicago alumni California Institute of Technology faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science