Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

305 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine A fter watching Mercury pass the sun in 1953 at the age of 13, Dr. David Dering Meisel knew he wanted to pursue a career in astronomy. He felt the field suited him because it was a revolutionary subject when he was growing up, and he always enjoyed veering off the beaten path. In 1961, he received a BA in physics from West Virginia University, and he later obtained an MS in astronomy in 1963 and a PhD in astronomy in 1967, both from The Ohio State University. Today, Dr. Meisel’s achievements include the study of helium 10830 in early-type stars, interstellar micrometeors and radio- meteor forward scattering and atmospheric muon tomography using many national and international facilities in West Virginia, Arizona, Puerto Rico, Japan and Sweden. He is the co- author of the 2013 book, “Astrophysics through Computation: With Mathematical Support.” Dr. Meisel began teaching as an assistant professor at the University of Virginia in 1968. In 1970, he relocated to the State University of New York at Geneseo, where he worked for more than 30 years. Over the course of his tenure, he served as an assistant professor, associate professor, professor and distinguished professor. In 2005, he was notably named a SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Outside of his teaching career, Dr. Meisel was an associate at the C.E.K. Mees Observatory at the University of Rochester in 1973, and later the associate director from 1988 to 1997. He was also a senior associate at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland from 1977 to 1978. A NASA New York State Space Grant Consortium grantee, Dr. Meisel’s career highlight is a current project involving turbulence of up to 90 kilometers into the sky. Another highlight was mentoring two Swedish PhD students, Johan Kero and Csilla Szasz. He and his wife traveled to Sweden to watch them obtain their doctorates. Dr. Meisel is a member of the American Astronomi ca l Soc i ety, Internationa l Astronomical Union and Meteoritical Society. He is the executive director of the American Meteor Society and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Royal Astronomical Society. DAVID DERING MEISEL, PHD SUNY DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR EMERITUS State University of New York at Geneseo Geneseo, NY SCIENCES, PHARMACEUTICALS AND BIOTECHNOLOGY