Pusey Picks Menzel to Fill Vacant Observatory Post

Donald H. Menzel has been appointed the sixth Director of the College Observatory, President Pusey announced today.

Menzel succeeds Harlow Shapley, who retired in the summer of 1952. He has served as acting director of the Observatory since September, 1952.

Agassiz Improvements

In conjunction with Menzel's appointment it was disclosed that the Corporation has provided a sum of $150,000 for the modernization of the Agassiz observatory and a like sum for improvements at the Cambridge site. Plans call for erection of a modern office building on the site formerly occupied by the original frame building in Cambridge.

"We are looking forward to a broadened program of graduate study and research to include the field of radio astronomy," said Menzol as he took over the direction of the observatory program.

"We also anticipate an expanded astrophysical program with special emphasis on the border fields of physics, geo-physics, and aerodynamics."

First Large Radio Telescope

The Observatory has been recently pioneering in the new field of radio astronomy. The first large radio telescope in the United States, designed particularly for the study of the galaxies, has been built at the Agassiz Observatory. Present plans call for further development in this field.

Menzel is noted for his research in solar activitly and was the first to determine that the nuclei of planetary nebulae are white dwarf stars. His studies of solar eclipses led him to develop and install the first coronagraph in America.

Flying Saucers

Much public attention has been given to Menzel's popular book, "Flying Saucers," in which he debunks the spatial objects, saying that the American public is "being exploited by those who wish to keep up the illusion of interplanetary space travel."

He has also published numerous technical papers and books on physics and radio propagation, as well as astronomy and astrophysics.

Menzel, 52 years old, is a native of Florence, Ohio, and a graduate of the University of Denver. He joined the Astronomy Department in 1932 and became a full professor in 1938. Since 1946 he has been associate director for Solar Research.