Open AccessNelson Spencer (1918–2002)
Author(s) -
Brace Larry,
Carignan George,
Donahue Tom,
Nagy Andrew,
Hunten Donald
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2003eo090008
Subject(s) - world war ii , officer , library science , management , aeronautics , gerontology , engineering , history , medicine , archaeology , computer science , economics
Nelson Spencer, former chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, died on 31 August 2002 in Bethesda, Maryland, at the age of 84 due to complications from Parkinson's disease. He had been an AGU member (SPA) since 1950. He was born in Buffalo, New York, and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1941 with a degree in electrical engineering. Spencer served as a naval officer during World War II and attended Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while in the service. After the war, he returned to the University of Michigan for graduate studies, earning his master's degree in electrical engineering in 1953. He soon became director of that department's Space Physics Research Laboratory (SPRL), and later, a full professor. In 1960, Spencer moved to Washington D.C. to lead Goddard's upper atmosphere research effort, serving for many years as chief of the Laboratory for Atmospheres. He retired in 1986.