Former Faculty: BENGT GEORG DANIEL STRÖMGREN

Faculty, School of Mathematics, September 1957–June 1967

Strömgren, a Danish astronomer and astrophysicist, was one of several physicists who formed a separate working group within the School of Mathematics in the 1950's and 1960's (the School of Natural Sciences was not established until 1966).

  • * PhD: Copenhagen University, 1929
  • * Born: January 21, 1908 in Gothenburg, Sweden; Deceased: July 4, 1987

Career Highlights:1

  • * Strömgren worked in astrophysics, both as an observer and a theorist, ranging over several disparate fields in that discipline.
  • * He gained world recognition for his research and theories on what stars are made of and what occupies the space between them.
  • * While associated with observatories in the United States and in Denmark, he helped to design equipment for more precise observations.
  • * While at the Institute, he developed a new method for fixing the ages and distances of stars.

Additional Career Notes:

  • * General Secretary of the International Astronomical Union (1948-52)
  • * President of the American Astronomical Society (1966-67)
  • * President of the International Astronomical Union (1970-73)

Awards/Prizes include:

  • * Bruce Medal (1959)
  • * Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1962)
  • * American Astronomical Society's Henry Norris Russell Lectureship (1965)

1excerpts from his on-line obituary (published by The New York Times)