A Tribute to Dr. Herbert C Pollock
Dudley Observatory owes much to the vision and leadership of
Herb Pollock. He joined the Dudley Board in 1972, served as its
president from 1975-1980, as secretary from 1981- 1992, and
assumed Emeritus status in 1995. He also served on the Board of
the Schenectady Museum and Planetarium, and was a Trustee of the
University of Virginia.
During his early tenure on the Dudley Board the Observatory had
a rather large staff that conducted research under NASA and other
contracts at its facility on Fuller Rd. in Albany. It added radio
astronomy to its programs when it installed the Frank L. Fullam
Radio Telescope near Bolton Landing. Scientists on the staff were
connected with the Department of Astronomy and Space Science at
SUNY- Albany.
The Dudley research programs came to a sudden crisis when SUNY
closed its Astronomy and Space Science Department prospect for
continued funding by any outside agency. The resulting financial
and personnel problems could have resulted in the demise of
Dudley.
With Herb's leadership the Observatory leased the Fuller Road
property to the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center under terms
that alleviated the financial problems He led the moves of the
library and archives, first to Plaza 7, then to Union Avenue. His
vision contributed to the Observatory's change from a research
facility to a foundation.
Herb had a long and distinguished career at General Electric's
Corporate Research and Development Center. During World War II he
worked on the separation of uranium isotopes, an achievement
essential to the Manhattan project.
He wrote several technical papers, and was awarded numerous
patents. He was a fellow of the American Physical Society. He
worked on nuclear safety with the Federation of Atomic Scientists,
which attempted to keep control of nuclear materials in the hands
of scientists instead of the military. He worked on the
development of the synchrotron, and it was during experiments he
and his team conducted at the GE Research Laboratory that
synchrotron radiation, today an important tool for analyzing the
properties of matter, was observed for the first time. He led a GE
R&D Center program of grants to Universities, unofficially
called the Pollock Award.
He purchased and maintained Moss Lodge Camp on Saranac Lake
that was built in 1898 by Isabel Ballantine, and n by the National
Trust for Preservation as one of the "Great Camps of the
Adirondacks". He had a great interest in the historical an natural
features of the Adirondacks.
I was very pleased when his wife Pat told me that in spite of
the severity of his long illness he was able to travel all the way
from New Haven to Moss Lodge last summer. While there he walked
along the shore with some of his old vigor, thoroughly enjoying
the place he loved.
Those who are associated with Dudley deeply appreciate the
contributions of Herb, and will always remember the friendly,
gentlemanly way in which he led us through a difficult time.
- Roy Anderson
Dr. Pollock died November 24, 2000 in Wallingford Conn.
