John Wainwright Evans

John Wainwright Evans was an American solar astronomer born in New York City. He spent much of his career studying the sun and working with optics both of which earned him awards. The Evans Solar Facility at Sacramento Peak was named after him. Evans died in a murder–suicide with his wife in 1999.

Education

Evans graduated from Swarthmore College in 1932 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, and 1936 from Harvard University with a master's degree after spending some time in the University of Pennsylvania's astronomy department. In 1938 he was awarded a doctorate in astronomy by Harvard.

Career

Evans taught for a year at the University of Minnesota, then at Mills College. While teaching in Oakland he worked at the Chabot Observatory and was appointed assistant professor. There he independently and belatedly invented the Lyot filter. In 1942 Evans moved to University of Rochester's Institute of Optics and developed optics for the military effort.
Between 1946 and 1952 he served as assistant superintendent of the High Altitude Observatory, working in both Boulder and Climax, Colorado. In 1952, he became the first director of the United States Air Force's new Upper Air Research Observatory, located at Sacramento Peak in southern New Mexico. The facility he directed was renamed the National Solar Observatory after the National Science Foundation took over responsibility for it in 1976. As director of the observatory Evans chose the name Sunspot, New Mexico, for the post office and community where the observatory was located.

Awards

While working at the National Solar Observatory, Evans was awarded

The Newcomb Cleveland Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award
An Honorary Doctor of Science at University of New Mexico
The Guenter Loeser Memorial Award by the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories
The Rockefeller Award for Distinguished Public Service
An Honorary Doctor of Science at Swarthmore College
An Outstanding Achievement Award, Air Force Office of Aerospace Research

Evans retired from paid employment in 1974. After retiring, Evans was awarded George Ellery Hale Prize of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society in 1982, and the David Richardson Medal of the Optical Society of America in 1987 for distinguished work in applied optics. In 1987 the Evans Solar Facility was named in his honor.

Death

Evans died on October 31, 1999, at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the perpetrator in a murder–suicide with his 89-year-old wife Betty.