Thanksgiving

Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • November 28, 2016

Is a time of and for thanks.  I have quite a few people to thank and I fear I won’t capture all of them here.  I am giving my thanks to the women and men who do a lot of things for MMA and for me on a daily basis, particularly where it concerns my work on the MMA facilities.  These are the people who have been working on our buildings and grounds, keeping things looking nice and improving upon things that are broken, rundown, and not looking so nice frankly.  And many of them have been doing it for many years already.


Some of our projects this year have been grant funded and we are greatly appreciative to those people, foundations, and granting agencies for their confidence in and support of our work.


This year’s projects – and repairs – have included things like new gutters on some of our buildings – including Hinchman House – painting of Hinchman and the Astronomer’s Cottage, work on turning our former Science Library into a Research Center, roofing Hinchman, installing a new (not leaking) shower and bathroom floor in the Hinchman dorm, and installing new drainage and a sewer line.  These are just a few of the “biggies” but there are also things like washing windows, cleaning dryer vents (we have five of those!), and fixing the lighting which are just as important and may get overlooked sometimes.


So here goes the Thanks part which also includes the crews of these contractors, craftsmen, and artisans – all of my heroes! –  as well.  The MMA and I are eternally grateful!


JNLF


Wayne and Andrea Morris, Wayne Morris Mason


Matt Anderson, Anderson Carpentry


Pen Austin


Jim Badera, Badera Engineering


Jon Vollans, Vollans Electric


Bob Butler, Marden Plumbing


Mickey Rowland, Milton Rowland Architects


Greg Maskell, Maskell Landscaping


Kevin Wiggin, Kevin Wiggin HVAC, Inc.


Mike Freedman, Cabinetmaker


Jim Tyler, James Tyler Painting


Marine Home Center


Burton Went, WMW Tile, Inc. 


Sharon Cross


Pioneer Cleaning


Toscana


James Lydon and Sons and Daughters Roofing


Visco Pumping


Island Carpet


John Wathne, Structures-North


Matt Ireland


Jonathan Miles Window Cleaning


Taylor Butler


Chris Miller


Eric Finger


John Daly Plumbing


Island Cleaning Services


Greenwood Alarm



Valero Locksmith Service

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Dorrit Hoffleit began her tenure at the MMO in 1957. A graduate of Radcliffe, Hoffleit earned a Ph.D. from Radcliffe in 1938. During World War Two, she worked for the U. S. government on missile trajectories and joined Yale’s Astronomy Department in 1956. Her directorship of the MMO allowed her to work part of the year on island and the remainder at Yale with the two organizations sharing her salary. She was the principal author of the Yale Bright Star Catalog – work that was continually added to over fifty years – and her work also focused on the study of variable stars. Hoffleit continued in the path of Harwood with research and public outreach, and bringing worldwide recognition to the MMO. Among her many accomplishments on behalf of the MMO, Hoffleit is known for her work with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a grant she received in 1957 to allow for the summer training of female undergraduate students in astronomy. This was the pilot project for the national program of the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in various branches of science and technology, launched by the NSF in 1990. The MMA became a permanent REU site in astronomy, which is funded by the NSF based on periodically submitted proposals. Today, the MMO continues to have a lasting effect on its students. More than five percent of all the U.S. women becoming Ph.D.s in astronomy have participated in the MMA REU program. The probability of a current MMA REU student (either female or male) to become a Ph.D. is approximately sixty percent. Approximately fifty current professors of astronomy in the U. S. have participated in the REU program at the MMA. Hoffleit who retired from the MMO in 1978, continued her connections to the MMA up until the last weeks of her life. She passed away in 2007 at the age of one hundred. JNLF

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