Paul J. Coleman Jr. (March 7, 1932 – April 6, 2019) was an American

space scientist The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide to space science: Space science encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that involve space exploration and study natural phenomena and physical bodies In common usage ...

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veteran, professor of

space physics Space physics, also known as solar-terrestrial physics or space-plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (aeronomy) and within the Solar System. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and founding chairman of the Girvan Institute of Technology. Coleman was also a co-founder of '' JumpStartFund'', an online

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platform. He was awarded two

Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (abbreviated ESAM) was established by NASA on September 15, 1961, when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually sign ...

by NASA, one in 1970 for his contributions to the exploration of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

and the other in 1972 for his contributions to the exploration of the Moon. In 1975 he was elected in the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm ( Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has electe ...

. He was a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and a

Senior Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

from 1975 to 1976. P From 1981 to 2000, he was president and CEO of the USRA. In 1985, Dr. Coleman was appointed by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to the National Commission on Space; in 1991, he was appointed by Vice President Dan Quayle to the Space policy Advisory Board. In 2004, he was recognized by '' Space News'', as one of ten "Innovators and visionaries" who "made a difference' in the global space enterprise over the preceding fifteen years".

Early life and career

Coleman held BS Engineering degrees in mathematics and physics, an MS degree in physics, and a PhD in space physics. He served two years as a

commissioned officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

, with duty in Europe,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

from 1954 to 1956. His early professional experience included positions at the

Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation TRW Inc., was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, electronics, automotive, and credit reporting.http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/TRW-Inc-Company-History.html TRW Inc. It was a pioneer ...

(acquired by Northrop Grumman) and at the headquarters of the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding th ...

in Washington, D.C., as manager of NASA's interplanetary sciences program. In 1965, he joined the faculty at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. There, with Dr. T.A. Farley, he established a laboratory for research in space physics. In the course of his research on

charged particles In physics, a charged particle is a particle with an electric charge. It may be an ion, such as a molecule or atom with a surplus or deficit of electrons relative to protons. It can also be an electron or a proton, or another elementary particle, ...

and electric and magnetic fields in space, he worked with the Explorer,

OGO Ogo may refer to: Places * Ogo, Senegal (disambiguation) **Ogo, Diourbel **Ogo, Louga **Ogo (arrondissement), Matam, Matam * Ogo Mountains, Somaliland, Somalia * Ōgo, Gunma, Japan; a town in Seta, Gunma ** Ōgo Station, Maebashi, Gunma, Japan; a ...

and ATS series of

satellites A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotop ...

, the Pioneer series of deep-space probes, the Mariner series of planetary spacecraft, Apollo's 15 and 17, and ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

''. He wrote or collaborated in writing more than 150 articles on research in the space sciences and developments in space technology.

References

External links

NASA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Paul J. 1932 births 2019 deaths Scientists from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois NASA people University of California, Los Angeles faculty