Stibbs, Douglas Walter Noble (Walter) (1919 - 2010)

Summary

Walter Stibbs spent his early career in Australia, working at the Commonwealth Solar Observatory at Mount Stromlo from 1940-1942 and 1945-1951 and lecturing in the Department of Mathematics and Physics at New England University College, Armidale (now University of New England) from 1942-1945. After 30 years at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, as Napier Professor of Astronomy and Director of the University Observatory, he returned to Mount Stromlo in 1990 as a Visiting Fellow. During his first period at Mount Stromlo he participated in early optical munitions work, designing folded optics for a gun sight and a sun compass for use by tanks in desert warfare. The Walter Stibbs Lecture is presented annually by the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, University of Sydney.

Details

Chronology

1940 - 1942

Career position - Resident Assistant, Commonwealth Solar Observatory

1942

Education - BSc, University of Sydney

1942 - 1945

Career position - Assistant Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Physics, New England University College, Armidale

1943

Education - MSc, University of Sydney

1945 - c. 1950

Career position - Scientific Officer (later Senior Scientific Officer), Commonwealth Solar Observatory

c. 1950 - 1951

Career position - Senior Scientific Officer, Commmonwealth Observatory

1954

Education - DPhil, University of Oxford, UK

1955 - 1959

Career position - Principal Scientific Officer, United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

1956

Career position - Johnson Memorial Prize and Gold Medal for Advancement of Astronomy and Meteorology, University of Oxford

1959 - 1989

Career position - Napier Professor of Astronomy and Director of the University Observatory, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

1961 - 2010

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of Edinburgh

1972 - 1973

Career position - Vice-President, Royal Astronomical Society, United Kingdom

1987 - 1989

Career position - Senior Professor Senatus Academicus, University of St Andrews

1990 -

Career position - Professor Emeritus, University of St Andrews

1990 -

Career position - Visiting Fellow at Mount Stromlo & Siding Springs Observatories, Australian National University

1990 -

Career position - Visiting Fellow at the Astrophysical Theory Centre, School of Mathematical Sciences, Australian National University

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

• The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/omp.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Evans, Tom Lloyd, 'Walter Stibbs 1919 - 2010', Astronomy & Geophysics, 51 (4) (2010), 41-2. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-4004.2010.51440_1.x. Details
• Stibbs, Margaret, 'Douglas Walter Noble Stibbs', Australian Mathematical Society gazette, 37 (3) (2010), 165-7. Details
• Strickland, David, 'Douglas Walter Noble Stibbs (1919 - 2010)', The Observatory, 130 (2010), 272-3. https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//full/2010Obs...130..272S/0000272.000.html. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q56812177. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/280186621. Details
• 'Stibbs, Douglas Walter Noble (19190217-20100412)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1476371. Details

Resource Sections

• 'Stibbs, Douglas Walter Noble (Walter)', in The Giant's Eye: the Optical Munitions Exhibition, A Bright Sparcs Exhibition, Australian Science Archives Project, 1997, http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/exhib/omp/people/stibbs.htm. Details

See also

• Davies, Susan, 'R. v.d. R. Wooley in Australia', Historical Records of Australian Science, 6 (1) (1984), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.1071/HR9840610059. Details