American astronomer and science writer (born 1938)
James Bailey "Jim" Kaler
Born
(1938-12-29)December 29, 1938
Albany, New York, U.S.
Died
November 26, 2022(2022-11-26) (aged 83)
Education
University of Michigan, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, UCLA
Alma mater
University of Michigan, UCLA
Occupation(s)
Astronomer, science writer
Years active
1961–2003
Employer
University of Illinois
James Bailey "Jim" Kaler (December 29, 1938 — November 26, 2022[1]) was an American
astronomer and
science writer.
Personal life and education
Kaler was born to Earl and Hazel Holmgren Kaler on December 29th, 1938. After elementary and high-school education in Albany, New York, Kaler earned his
A.B. at the
University of Michigan in 1960. He attended graduate school at the University of Michigan (1960–61), at
Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Germany, 1961–62), and
UCLA (1962–64), where he also obtained his
Ph.D. in
Astronomy 1964. His thesis advisor was
Lawrence H. Aller. He was married to Maxine Grossman and they had three children.[1] He died due to complications of Parkinson's Disease on November 26th, 2022.
Professional career
Kaler started his professional career with appointments as a research and teaching assistant at the University of Michigan from 1958 to summer 1960. In 1961 he worked as an astronomer with the
United States Naval Observatory. In 1964 he was appointed as an
assistant professor of Astronomy by the
University of Illinois, and promoted to
associate professor in 1968 and to a
full professor position in 1976 (all at University of Illinois). Since 1995 he is Campus Honors Faculty.[2] In 2003 he retired to become
professor emeritus at the University of Illinois.[2]
Kaler published over 120 papers. Examples include work on
Jim Kaler has written for a variety of magazines, and was a consultant for
Time-Life Books. He has long appeared on
Illinois television and radio. In addition to two textbooks and three audio courses, he published several books, including[17]
First Magnitude: A Book of the Bright Sky
Stars and their Spectra,
The Ever-Changing Sky,
Extreme Stars (American Association of Publishers Outstanding Professional and Scholarly Title in Physics and Astronomy for 2001),