Goetz Oertel
![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Goetz Oertel (August 24, 1934 – May 18, 2021) was an American physicist and science manager.[1]
Youth
Flight from West Prussia
Oertel was born in
Education
After the
Physicist in the U.S.
Goetz followed his supervisor of his doctoral thesis to the US in 1957 with a
After his successful PhD promotion he was hired by NASA in January 1963 at their Langley Research Center as a researcher. The agency promoted his naturalization to US citizenship and provided him with responsibility over a current research project. He had to convince the NASA and General Electric engineers that the project was unviable and had to be restructured substantially. At the same time, his experimental research results from his PhD thesis became published and resulted in the application for two patents.
Solar physics
In 1967, the NASA HQ offered Goetz Oertel a senior position in Washington, D.C. and thus enabled a continuation of his theoretical work. When he was finally named leader of the program of the ATM of Skylab, consequentially becoming responsible for continuously increasing roles and functions, and finally was promoted Chief of Solar Physics, he had to come to an end with his experimental work, albeit successfully.
Nuclear energy
In 1974, the
Astronomy
Oertel returned to the Ministry of Energy in 1985 as deputy assistant. Dealing with the consequences of the Challenger space shuttle accident and the Chernobyl disaster, the appointment to President and Chief Executive of AURA came at a suitable moment. AURA operated the Hubble Space Telescope, space- and solar observatories in Arizona, New Mexico and Chile, and, more recently, also the Gemini Observatorys in Hawaii and Chile. After thirteen successful years at this position, Oertel finally declined a five-year renewal of his contract.
Honorations
Oertel remained an active member of The National Academy of Sciences, and continued his work for various foundations and universities, as well as for ministries of science in North- and South America. The National Academies had elected him as Associate for life. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers honored him with the
Personal life and death
Oertel and his wife had one daughter and one son. He was a member of the Corps Masovia and Palaiomarchia.[3] He was an active member of the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C.
Goetz Oertel died on May 18, 2021, at the age of 86.[4]
References
- ^ ISBN 978-3-540-34361-5.
- ^ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 114, 61
- ^ R. Döhler: Verzeichnis sämtlicher Mitglieder des Corps Masovia 1823-2005. Potsdam 2006
- ^ "Remembrance of Goetz Oertel". AURA. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2024.