Background
Whitford, Albert Edward was born on October 22, 1905 in Milton, Wisconsin, United States. Son of Alfred Edward and Mary (Whitford) Whitford.
Whitford, Albert Edward was born on October 22, 1905 in Milton, Wisconsin, United States. Son of Alfred Edward and Mary (Whitford) Whitford.
Bachelor, Milton College, 1926; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, 1932; Doctor of Science (honorary), University Wisconsin, 1967.
He served as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory and the Lick Observatory. While studying physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he worked as an assistant to astronomer Joel Stebbins helping him in his study of photoelectric photometry. Whitford developed a device for measuring small currents from photoelectric cells, which allowed them to measure fainter stars.
He decided to become an astronomer and spent two years at Caltech and Mount Wilson Observatory as a postdoctoral fellowship
During World World War II, Whitford worked in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Radiation Laboratory. In 1948, he succeeded Stebbins as director of the Mount Wilson Observatory and served as director until 1958.
He was director of Lick Observatory from 1958-1968, and oversaw the completion of the Shane Telescope in 1959. He served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 1967-1970, and later served on the faculties of both the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The Whitford reddening curve, quantifying the interstellar absorption of light, was important in the mapping of the distribution of stars in the Milky Way.
He also studied the stars in galactic nuclear bulges. In 1954, Whitford was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Whitford died in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 28, 2002, and a memorial service was held in the auditorium of the Meriter Health Center in Madison.
The asteroid 2301 Whitford is named in his honor.
Member National Academy of Sciences, American Astronomical Society (Russell Lecturer 1986), Astronomical Society Pacific (Catherine Wolfe Bruce medal 1996), American Academy Arts & Sciences.
Married Eleanor Bell Whitelaw, October 23, 1937 (deceased March 1986). Children: William Curtis, Mary Eleanor, Martha Neill.