Astronomy Award Founded

Virginia Trimble is donating $100‥000 to fulfill a wish of the American Astronomical Society. The gift will establish the Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation, named in honor of Trimble’s late husband, who was perhaps best known for his pioneering work on detectors for gravitational radiation. “Both astronomy and physics tend not to recognize very well the absolutely essential people who can build things and make them work. … [Weber] unquestionably belonged to that small fraternity,” says Trimble, an astronomer who splits her time between the University of California at Irvine and the University of Maryland, College Park. “Often the people who have used instruments to do the science get the recognition, and those who have built the hardware get overlooked,” adds AAS executive officer Robert Milkey. “The recognition of those who have propelled astronomical observation through the development of innovative instrumentation is the goal of this award.” The AAS has not yet determined the cash value of the annual award, for which the first winner will be announced next year.