Background
Spreiter was born on October 23, 1921 in Staples, Minnesota, United States; the son of Walter F. and Agda E. (Hokanson) Spreiter.
(The beginnings of magnetospheric physics were the beginni...)
The beginnings of magnetospheric physics were the beginnings of space physics, of the marvelous discoveries made from in situ measurements from rockets and satellites and from increasingly sophisticated ground-based measurements and computer-assisted theoretical and empirical research. The beginnings of magnetospheric physics are also intimately connected with the International Geophysical Year 1957-58, the greatest world-wide cooperative scientific event in history. From the period following World War II until the late 1960s, the United States, and world physics and engineering in general, entered a new level of large-scale research epitomized by "space physics". Covering the period roughly 1958-1967, this volume contains personal accounts from those pioneers whose pathfinding research initiated and solidified the field of magnetospheric physics. Here are accounts of the first rocket and satellite studies, of the discovery of the magnetosphere and Van Allen belts, of early models of the physics of the space around our Earth and of the Earth's environment within the Sun's plasma. Studies of the magnetosphere of the Earth led directly to our knowledge of the plasma environment around other planets and throughout our solar system. The authors of papers in this volume were in at the beginning, pioneers who played a significant role in the early years of magnetospheric physics.
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1997
Spreiter was born on October 23, 1921 in Staples, Minnesota, United States; the son of Walter F. and Agda E. (Hokanson) Spreiter.
Spreiter graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1943. Four years later he earned his Master of Science degree and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1954 from Stanford University.
Spreiter began his career as a Research scientist in the flight research at Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in California and worked there from 1943 to 1946 on airplane design and stress analysis. From 1947 to 1962, he took a position of a Research scientist on the theoretical branch at the same center, making internationally recognized contributions to high-speed aerodynamics. In 1962, Spreiter became the first chief of the newly formed theoretical studies branch of the space sciences division at NASA/Ames Research Center and served in that position until 1969.
Spreiter began his teaching career in 1951 in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department at Stanford University. He became a full professor jointly in the Applied Mechanics and Aeronautics and Astronautics Departments in 1968, and continued to teach and direct graduate students until his retirement in 1993. Since 1993 he was a Professor Emeritus at Stanford University.
(The beginnings of magnetospheric physics were the beginni...)
1997
Spreiter was a member of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Royal Astronomical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Physical Society, The Planetary Society, Saratoga Tennis Club (treasurer 1955-1965), Fremont Hills Country Club (Los Altos Hills, California), Stanford Faculty Club, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi and Tau Omega.
He also served on the editorial board of the journal "Cosmic Electrodynamics" in 1969-1974; on the space sciences steering committee in 1960-1964 and the ionospheres and radio physics subcommittee of NASA; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics space and atmospheric physics committee in 1964-1967; the AIAA fluid dynamics committee in 1970-1972; the United States national committee of the International Scientific Radio Union and the Inter Union Commission of Solar-terrestrial Physics.
On August 7, 1953 John Spreiter married Brenda Owens. They have 4 children.