John Wainwright Evans (May 14, 1909 – October 31, 1999) was an American solar astronomer born in New York City. He spent much of his career studying the sun and working with optics both of which earned him awards. The Evans Solar Facility at

Sacramento Peak Cathey Peak is a peak in the Sacramento Mountains (New Mexico), Sacramento Mountains, in the south-central part of the U.S. State of New Mexico. It lies in Otero County, New Mexico, Otero County, southeast of the community of Alamogordo, New Mexi ...

was named after him. Evans died in a murder–suicide with his wife in 1999.

Education

Evans graduated from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 1932 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, and 1936 from Harvard University with a master's degree after spending some time in the University of Pennsylvania's astronomy department. In 1938 he was awarded a doctorate in astronomy by Harvard.

Career

Evans taught for a year at the University of Minnesota, then at Mills College. While teaching in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

he worked at the Chabot Observatory and was appointed assistant professor. There he independently and belatedly invented the Lyot filter. In 1942 Evans moved to University of Rochester's Institute of Optics and developed optics for the military effort. Between 1946 and 1952 he served as assistant superintendent of the High Altitude Observatory, working in both

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

and

Climax, Colorado Climax was an unincorporated mining village and a former U.S. Post Office located in Lake County, Colorado, United States. Climax is known for its large molybdenum ore deposit. Climax is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of a ...

. In 1952, he became the first director of the United States Air Force's new Upper Air Research Observatory, located at Sacramento Peak in southern New Mexico. The facility he directed was renamed the National Solar Observatory after the National Science Foundation took over responsibility for it in 1976. As director of the observatory Evans chose the name

Sunspot, New Mexico Sunspot is an unincorporated community in the Sacramento Mountains in the Lincoln National Forest in Otero County, New Mexico, United States, about south of Cloudcroft. Its elevation is . The Sunspot Solar Observatory and Apache Point Observa ...

, for the post office and community where the observatory was located.

Awards

While working at the National Solar Observatory, Evans was awarded *The Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

(1957) *Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1964) *The Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award (1965) *An

Honorary Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

at University of New Mexico (1967) *The

Guenter Loeser Memorial Award The Guenter Loeser Memorial Award was first established in 1955 at the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory. It was named after Dr. Loeser, a meteorologist who lost his life while conducting a field experiment. Over time, AFCRL became the Air Fo ...

by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories (1967) *The Rockefeller Award for Distinguished Public Service (1969) *An Honorary Doctor of Science at

(1970) *An Outstanding Achievement Award,

Air Force Office of Aerospace Research The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

(1970) Evans retired from paid employment in 1974. After retiring, Evans was awarded George Ellery Hale Prize of the Solar Physics Division of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in 1982, and the

David Richardson Medal The David Richardson Medal is awarded by the Optical Society (formerly the Optical Society of America) to recognize contributions to optical engineering, primarily in the commercial and industrial sector. The award was first made in 1966 to its nam ...

of the Optical Society of America in 1987 for distinguished work in applied optics. In 1987 the Evans Solar Facility was named in his honor.

Death

Evans died on October 31, 1999, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the protagonist in a murder–suicide with his 89-year-old wife Betty.

Bibliography

Evans wrote a number of astronomy related books and papers. *Evans, John Wainwright, (1938), ''The Distribution of Stars and Absorbing Material in the Perseus-Cassiopeia Region of the Milky Way'', Harvard University, *Evans, John Wainwright, (1948), ''A Photometer for Measurement of Sky Brightness Near the Sun'', Journal of the Optical Society of America *Menzel, Donald Howard, Evans, John Wainwright, (1953), ''The Behavior and Classification of Solar Prominences'', Harvard College Observatory, *Evans, John Wainwright, (1963), ''The Solar Corona'', International Astronomical Union, *Altrock, Richard C., Evans, John Wainwright, (1988), ''Solar and Stellar Coronal Structure and Dynamics'', National Solar Observatory,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, John Wainwright American astrophysicists 20th-century American astronomers Scientists from New York City Suicides by firearm in New Mexico Swarthmore College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Minnesota faculty Mills College faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1909 births 1999 deaths 1999 suicides