William Wallace Campbell. 1862-1938

This great astronomer died on 15 June 1938. In a pathetic letter to his wife he explained that his complete blindness in one eye, approaching blindness in the other eye, and still more the fear of losing his reason would make him nothing but a burden to his wife and fam ily and so had few regrets on leaving the world. The high esteem in which he was held was testified by the pall-bearers at his funeral. These included the Governor of the State of California, the Acting President and Officials of the University, the Director, the late Director of the Lick Observatory, and the Director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. William Wallace Campbell was born on 11 April 1862 in a farm in Hancock County, Ohio. H e became a student of the University of Michigan and took the degree of B.S. in the faculty of Engineering. He was appointed Professor of Mathematics in the University of Colorado, but two years later, at considerable financial sacrifice, returned to the University of Michigan as Instructor in Astronomy. In 1891 he was appointed Astronomer at the Lick Observatory, and remained there till 1923, when he yielded reluctantly to the pressure put upon him to accept the post of President of the University of California.