Background
Smith, Harlan James was born on August 25, 1924 in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States. Son of Paul Elder and Anna Persis (McGregor) Smith.
Smith, Harlan James was born on August 25, 1924 in Wheeling, West Virginia, United States. Son of Paul Elder and Anna Persis (McGregor) Smith.
Following the war he attended Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in 1949. In 1950 he married Joan Greene, and by 1951 had earned his Master of Surgery degree from Harvard. He began teaching at the astronomy department at Yale University in 1953, but still completed his Doctor of Philosophy from Harvard by 1955.
While attending Wheeling High School he was named first runner up in the "Westinghouse National Science Talent Search". From 1943 until the end of World World War II he served in the United States. Army Air Corps, performing weather observation. In 1963 he was named chair of the University of Texas astronomy department where he also became the director of the McDonald Observatory.
At the observatory he oversaw the construction of the 2.7m telescope he had persuaded National Aeronautics and Space Administration to build in support of planetary missions.
He also was the chairperson of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Science Board from 1977 until 1980, and there helped propose National Aeronautics and Space Administration"s Great Observatories program He retired in 1989.During his career he studied variable stars, the radio emission from planets, as well as photometry and astronomical instruments.
With Dorrit Hoffleit, he was the first to observe the optical variability of quasars, and discovered a class of variable stars known as Delta Scuti variables. He also developed "The Story of the Universe", a series of educational films.
He was also a proponent of international cooperation, particularly with China which he visited several times.
He served as co-editor of the Astronomical Journal as well as acting secretary for the American Astronomical Society. Smith died due to complications related to cancer.
Served as weather observer United States Army Air Force, 1943-1946. Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science. Member American Astronomical Society (acting secretary 1961-1962, chairman planetary division 1974-1975, council 1975-1978, vice president 1977-1979, Masursky award division planetary science 1993), Royal Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union, Associate Universities Research in Astronomy (chairman board directors 1980-1982), International Astronomical Union, Sigma Xi.
He was an enthusiastic proponent of educating the public on astronomy, and developed the radio program "Star Date".
Married Joan Greene, December 21, 1950. Children: Nathaniel, Sara (deceased), Julia, Theodore, Hannah.