William Roger Ward (January 11, 1944 – September 20, 2018) was an American astronomer. Born in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

, Ward studied mathematics and physics at

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, and completed a doctoral degree at

California Institute of Technology 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 ...

in 1972. He became an astronomy theoretician, studying how planetary systems formed and evolved. His career began at the Harvard's Center for Astrophysics, then he moved to the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

in 1977. In 1998 he joined the Southwest Research Institute branch located in Boulder, Colorado. He retired in 2014. Over the course of his research career, he received the

Brouwer Award The Brouwer Award is awarded annually by the Division on Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of dynamical astronomy. The prize is named for Dirk Brouwer. Recipients Source ...

from the Division on Dynamical Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society in 2003, and the

Gerard P. Kuiper Prize The Gerard P. Kuiper Prize is awarded annually by the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society for outstanding lifetime achievement in the field of planetary science. The prize is named for Gerard P. Kuiper. Kuiper Pr ...

in 2011. He was granted fellowship by the

American Geophysical Union The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's a ...

(2005), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006), and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

(2012). In 2015, he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Ward died of a brain tumor in

Prescott, Arizona Prescott ( ) is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the city's population was 45,827. The city is the county seat of Yavapai County. In 1864, Prescott was designated as the capital of the Arizona ...

on September 20, 2018.Obituary for William Roger Ward
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, William 1944 births 2018 deaths American astronomers University of Missouri alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Geophysical Union Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Kansas City, Kansas Deaths from brain cancer in the United States University of Missouri physicists