Dr. Lloyd V. WALLACE

WALLACE, Dr. Lloyd V., Ph.D, Emeritus Astronomer at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, passed away on October 25, 2015 in Tucson. Born in 1927 in Detroit, Michigan, in humble circumstances, Lloyd developed an early interest in solar and planetary astronomy and was a protégé of Ralph Nichols, a physics professor at the University of Western Ontario. Later he moved back to the United States and obtained his Ph.D in Astronomy at the University of Michigan in 1957 under Leo Goldberg. It was while he was at the University of Michigan that he met and married his wife, Ruth. At various times in his early career, and as the result of a complex series of events, he held Canadian, British, and United States citizenships and even found time to become an expert professional electrician. On acquiring his degree he obtained a position with Joe Chamberlain at the Yerkes Observatory and began a lifetime association with Chamberlain and Don Hunten (then a visitor to Yerkes) in atmospheric and spectroscopic research. Upon their arrival in Tucson in 1962, Lloyd worked under Chamberlain, the head of the Space Division at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, as a principal experimenter in the observatory's sounding rocket program. Lloyd was also involved in the first attempts to establish a remotely controlled 50" telescope on Kitt Peak and efforts within the Division to create an Earth orbiting astronomical telescope. During this time he also pursued theoretical studies of resonant line transfer and some of the first modelling of the thermal structure of outer planet atmospheres. His solar and cool star studies led to the production of several high-resolution digital atlases extending from the UV to the thermal IR and, in addition, studies of line variability and the molecular content of sunspots. He was highly productive with 135 published papers bearing his name. Ruth managed to establish a legacy in her own right with her passion for politics, women's rights and environmental issues. Her position as the Vice President for the league of women voters was influential in registering thousands of people in Tucson to vote. She managed to do all these things, with Marla, their newly adopted five year old daughter, riding on her skirt tails. The Wallace family had a passion for hiking all of the local trails in Southern Arizona, with their names recorded at the summits of all four mountain ranges surrounding Tucson. His personal hobbies included model trains, prize winning hand hooked rugs, and world traveling. Lloyd was a genuine person, with a very sharp wit. "Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?" He will be sincerely missed by all who had the distinct privilege of knowing him. He is preceded in death by his wife, Ruth, who passed away in 2008. He is survived by his daughter, Marla. A Memorial is being arranged for December 5, 2015. Arrangements by ABBEY FUNERAL CHAPEL.