Thomas J. Ahrens
Thomas Julian Ahrens was an American geophysicist and professor at the Caltech. His research focused on the study of terrestrial planets and the impact processes on their surfaces. Through his contributions to research on topics including dynamic loading, structural changes to molten silicates, and shock wave temperature measurement methods, his work contributed to understanding of the origin and evolution of Mars, the Moon, Jupiter, Venus, and Earth.
Education and career
Ahrens completed his B.S. at the MIT in 1957, his M.S. at Caltech in 1958, and his Ph.D. at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1962. He credits MIT's Patrick Hurley for his emerging interest in the questions of the evolution of the Earth and planets.From 1958 to 1959, Ahrens worked as a geophysicist for the Pan American Petroleum Corporation. He served as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army at the Ballistics Research Laboratory from 1959 to 1960. Ahrens then led the Geophysics Section at the Poulter Laboratory, Stanford Research Institute, from 1962 to 1967.
He joined Caltech as an Associate Professor of Geophysics in 1967, became a full Professor in 1976, and held the W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Earth Sciences position from 1996 to 2001. He was named the Jones Professor from 2004 to 2005 and became a Jones Professor Emeritus from 2005 until his death in 2010.