Robert M. Walker (physicist)

Robert M. Walker (February 6, 1929 – February 12, 2004) was an American physicist, a planetary scientist, the founder and director of McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, noted for his co-discovery of the etchability of nuclear particle tracks in solids, as well as his conjecture that meteorites and lunar rocks contain a record of the ancient radiation history of various stars including the Sun. Asteroid 6372 was named Walker in his honor by the International Astronomical Union. Walker was a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Walker was also a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the Meteoritical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was also a founder and the first president of Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA).

Notable distinctions

 * 1964   American Nuclear Society Annual Award
 * 1966   Yale Engineering Association Annual Award for Contributions to Basic and Applied Science
 * 1967   Doctor, honoris causa, Union College
 * 1970   NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award
 * 1971   E. O. Lawrence Memorial Award of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
 * 1973   Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
 * 1975   Docteur, honoris causa, University of Clermont-Ferrand, France
 * 1985   Antarctic Service Medal of the National Science Foundation
 * 1991   J. Lawrence Smith Medal, National Academy of Sciences
 * 1992   Officier de l’Ordre des Palmes Academiques
 * 1993   Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society
 * 1997   Peter Raven Lifetime Achievement Award, St. Louis Academy of Science
 * 1999   Asteroid 6372 named Walker by International Astronomical Union
 * 2004   Doctor, honoris causa (posthumous), Washington University in St. Louis

Life and career

 * February 6, 1929, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
 * 1950 graduated from Union College with a degree in physics
 * 1954 Ph.D. in physics, Yale University
 * 1966 the McDonnell Professor of Physics, Washington University
 * February 12, 2004 died in Brussels, Belgium stomach cancer

Personal life
Walker was married to the cosmochemist Ghislaine Crozaz.