Obituary: G. Richard Huguenin, founder of Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory, inventor and former trustee
G. Richard Huguenin, the founder and director of the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) and former professor of Astronomy and a one-time member of the Board of Trustees, died Nov. 22 in Sedro-Woolley, Wash. He was 75.
Born in East Stroudsburg, Pa., he received a B.S. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1959 and a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University in 1963. He was elected to the Harvard Society of Fellows from 1960-63.
He taught at Harvard and directed Harvard’s space radio astronomy program from 1963-68. He came to Amherst in 1968 and chaired the department of Physics and Astronomy and played a key role in the development of the FCRAO, where Nobel Prize-winning research on pulsars was conducted by faculty Joseph Taylor and graduate student Russell Hulse.
He resigned from the faculty in 1986 and purused work in private industry.
A pioneer in the field of millimeter wavelength radio astronomy, Huguenin authored numerous professional and technical publications and held several patents. In 1982 founded Millitech, Inc., a local company where he served as CEO. He also held senior executive management posts in several other companies, including Millivision, Inc., Millimetrix, LLC, and Millivision, LLC.
In 1987, Huguenin was appointed to the Board of Trustees by Gov. Michael S. Dukakis.
During his career, he received several professional honors, including the Bart J. Bok Prize, Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Sweden's Chalmers University of Technology and a senior fellowship at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
He was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree at Commencement in 1994.
Huguenin retired in 2002 and moved from his residence in Marion, Mass. to Sedro-Woolley.
He leaves his brother, Robert and wife, Nancy; his cousin Nancy and her husband, Boyd; his wife, Ellen and his son, Paul and his fiancée, April.
There will be a small private service in Stroudsburg, Pa., followed by internment at the Moravian Cemetery in Canadensis, Pa., on Dec. 18.
He leaves his brother, Robert and wife, Nancy; his cousin Nancy and her husband, Boyd; his wife, Ellen and his son, Paul and his fiancée, April.
There will be a small private service in Stroudsburg, Pa., followed by internment at the Moravian Cemetery in Canadensis, Pa., on Dec. 18.
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Thursday, December 13, 2012
