Ralph Baldwin

BALDWIN - Dr. Ralph Belknap Baldwin died peacefully on October 23. He was a Naples, Florida resident since retiring in 1984 as Chairman of the Board of the Oliver Machinery Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Born on June 6, 1912 in Grand Rapids, the son of Melvin D and Julie B Baldwin; He was graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in 1934, an M.S. in 1935 and a PhD in Astronomy (Physics) in 1937. He taught astronomy at the Universities of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Northwestern. He was married for 62 years to Lois Virginia Johnston of Chicago. They are survived by their three children, Melvin Dana Baldwin II (Mary Nell) of Ada, Michigan, Pamela Baldwin and Bruce Belknap Baldwin (Annette), all of Raleigh, North Carolina; grandchildren, Peter (Delaura), John, Betsy, and Emily Baldwin, Britt Bommelje and Blake Ann Keegan (John); two great grandsons, Nicolas and Stratford. Dr. Baldwin has received three honorary degrees, an LLD. from Michigan in 1975, an ScD from Grand Valley State University in 1989 and an ScD from Aquinas College in 1999. He has had three distinguished careers. During WW II he was a Senior Physicist at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, helping develop the radio proximity fuze. After the war he returned to Grand Rapids and joined Oliver Machinery Company where he became its President in 1970. He served as President of the Grand Rapids Rotary Club, The Employers Association and the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers of America and twice served as Chairman of its international machinery show. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and also served on the Board of the Butterworth Hospital. He was an avid sailor and golfer. He belonged to Spring Lake Yacht Club, Grand Rapids Yacht Club and Kent Country Club. His most important work was in Astronomy. His studies proved that the craters on the moon were produced by the impacts of large and small asteroid-like bodies rather than volcanic in origin. Baldwin's early work culminated in his book, 'The Face of the Moon,' (1949) which may properly be considered the generating force behind modern research in both terrestrial impact craters and lunar surface features. He followed up his original work with a second book, "The Measure of the Moon" in 1965. Dr. Baldwin was a Fellow in the Meteoritical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada made him an Honorary Member. He was one of only two scientists who have received both the Barringer and the Leonard Medals from the Meteoritical Society. He received the G.K. Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America and the J. Lawrence Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. The family will hold a private memorial service at a later time. If anyone wishes to make a donation in his name, please consider the Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan.