| Date: | 2018-06-25 17:54:26 | |
| Sender: | ”Noll, Carey E. (GSFC-61A0)” <carey.e.noll@nasa.gov> | |
| Subject: | [SLR-Mail] No.2517: Passing of Jean Dickey | |
| Author: | ILRS CB | |
| Content: | Author: ILRS CB Included below is an email distributed by colleagues at JPL regarding the sudden passing of Jean Dickey in early May. Carey. ----- Dear Colleagues, Our friend and scientific colleague Jean Dickey passed away on May 9, 2018. Jean was a brilliant and highly valued member of the geodetic research community. She started her career first studying engineering and later switching to physics at a small liberal arts college, now St. Francis University. In her senior year, she entered an honors program at the U.S. Department of Energy´s Argonne National Laboratory. Jean completed her Ph.D. at Rutgers University in 1976 in high-energy physics. As a postdoc at Caltech, she analyzed data from particle experiments that were performed at Fermilab. She joined JPL in 1980, initially studying the round-trip travel time of lasers shot between observatories on Earth and reflectors left on the moon by the Apollo astronauts. Jean made seminal contributions on Earth rotation, including polar motion and length of day, and how small variations can have big impacts on weather, sea level and even space exploration. Jeans groundbreaking work ranged from El Nio events to the Earths core. She has published more than 70 well cited peer-reviewed papers, many in high impact journals. Jean served as group supervisor at JPL from 1983 to 2005, was appointed Principal Scientist in 2005 and Senior Research Scientist in 2007. Jean chaired the National Research Council Committee on Earth Gravity from Space in 1996-7. Her leadership contributed significantly to the selection and later launch of the GRACE mission, to be followed a week from now by GRACE-FO. A prominent and pioneering geophysicist, in 1993 she was the first woman to give the American Geophysical Unions (AGU) Bowie Lecture, speaking on Earths rotation as an interdisciplinary approach to Earth System science. Jean was the first woman to serve as President of the AGU Geodesy Section, from 1994 to 1995. Jeans superb accomplishments were recognized by several prestigious awards throughout her career. Jean was elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the International Association of Geodesy. She was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1998, and the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2003. A loving mother and sister, Jean is survived by two sons, two grandchildren, three sisters and two brothers. Services will be held Monday May 14 at 9:30 am at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 151 S. Hill Ave, Pasadena. A condolence card will be in the 329 Section office next week for signing. Susan Owen Carmen Boening Victor Zlotnicki ----- Ms. Carey Noll Manager, Crustal Dynamics Data Information System (CDDIS) Secretary, ILRS Central Bureau Secretary, GGOS Bureau for Networks and Observations NASA GSFC Code 61A Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA E-mail: Carey.Noll@nasa.gov Voice: (301) 614-6542 Fax: (301) 614-6015 WWW: https://cddis.nasa.gov |