Rochus Eugen (Robbie) Vogt (born December 21, 1929 in
Neckarelz, Germany) 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. Two large ...
project from 1987 to 1994.
Biography
Vogt studied from 1950 to 1952 at the
University of Karlsruhe
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; german: Karlsruher Institut für Technologie) is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.
KIT was created in 2009 w ...
and from 1952 to 1953 at
Heidelberg University
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...
. In 1953 he came to the United States. At the University of Chicago he graduated in physics with a master's degree in 1957 and a Ph.D. 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 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 ...
, 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 1 ...
in 1980–1981. He was a mentor to
Michael Turner,
Neil Gehrels
Cornelis A. "Neil" Gehrels (October 3, 1952 – February 6, 2017) was an American astrophysicist specializing in the field of gamma-ray astronomy. He was Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GS ...
, and
Anneila Sargent
Professor Anneila Isabel Sargent FRSE DSc (born Anneila Cassells, 1942, Kirkcaldy) is a Scottish–American astronomer who specializes in star formation.
Biography
Sargent was brought up in Burntisland, Fife, and schooled at Burntisland ...
.
[ Gehrels was one of Vogt's doctoral students.
In 1992 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.]
Vogt married in 1958 and is the father of two daughters.
Selected publications
Articles
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Books
* (exercises for use with volume 1 of ''
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
''The Feynman Lectures on Physics'' is a physics textbook based on some lectures by Richard Feynman, a Nobel laureate who has sometimes been called "The Great Explainer". The lectures were presented before undergraduate students at the Californ ...
'')
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vogt, Rochus Eugen
1929 births
Living people
German astrophysicists
German emigrants 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