Dr. George Doschek, a Research Physicist in the Solar and Heliospheric Physics Branch at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), has been honored with the 2015 George Ellery Hale Prize in solar physics. The prestigious Hale Prize, named in memory of astronomer George Ellery Hale, is awarded by the American Astronomical Society Solar Physics Division (AAS/SPD) for outstanding contributions over an extended period of time to the field of solar astronomy.
Doschek is recognized for his pioneering work in solar spectroscopy, in particular his important insights into the interpretation and analysis of solar spectral observations, and his leadership as U.S. principal investigator of the Yohkoh Bragg Crystal Spectrometer and Hinode Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer.
Doschek served as head of the Solar-Terrestrial Relationships Branch in NRL's Space Science Division from 1979 until January 2011. He currently works as a Research Physicist in the Space Science Division Solar and Heliospheric Physics Branch and is the Heliospace Environment Task Area Coordinator at NRL. Between 1970 and 1979 he was a Research Astrophysicist at NRL, and between 1968 and 1970 he was an E.O. Hulburt Fellow at NRL. Doschek's research areas are solar physics, atomic physics, and solar physics spectroscopic space instrumentation. He has analyzed data from many astrophysical space missions and has been a key player in the design and construction of new solar space experiments such as the SOLFLEX Bragg crystal spectrometers on the DoD P78-1 mission and the instruments mentioned in the above citation. Doschek received his bachelor's degree in Physics in 1963 and his doctorate in Physics in 1968, both from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society (Solar Physics Division), Optical Society of America, American Geophysical Union, International Astronomical Union, and Sigma Xi. He served as the 1986-1988 Chairperson of the AAS Solar Physics Division.
Doschek has been recognized with the following awards: an Honorary Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1963); a Fellow of the Optical Society of America; NRL Alan Berman Research Publication Awards (1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1993); NRL's highest award for scientific achievement, the E.O. Hulburt Science and Engineering Award (1994); and Honorary Professor in the Department of Space & Climate Physics, University College London (2010-2015).
Doschek has published about 325 papers in scientific journals and proceedings, and has given many invited and oral presentations.
This is the fourth Hale Prize won by an NRL Space Science Division employee with Richard Tousey winning it in 1990, Spiro Antiochos in 2005, and Neil Sheeley in 2009.