Dr. George Carruthers overcame a devastating personal loss, moving away from home and struggling in high school to becoming one of the world’s most respected minds in astronomy and astrophysics. A scientist and inventor, Carruthers’ research has helped unveil some of space’s greatest mysteries.
Carruthers was born October 1, 1939 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The eldest of four children, he was led to science by his U.S. Army Air Corps civil engineer father, also named George. The family relocated to the South Side of Chicago after the sudden death of his father when Carruthers was 12, forcing his mother, Sophia, to take a postal job there.
His father’s death was hard for the family, and Carruthers’ grades suffered throughout high school. Despite his struggles, he won three science fair competitions. After graduation from Englewood High School, he attended the University of Illinois graduating with in aeronautical engineering in 1961. Over the next three years, he obtained a master’s in nuclear engineering, and a doctorate in aeronautical and astronautical engineering.
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Carruthers took his talents to Washington, D.C. where began working on far ultraviolet astronomy at the Naval Research Laboratory. By 1969, he’d obtained a patent for what was called the “Image Converter for Detecting Electromagnetic Radiation Especially in Short Wave Lengths.”
The invention was launched into space in 1970, providing the first scientific proof that molecular hydrogen existed in deep space. The UV telescope, or spectograph, was used once more in 1972 on the Apollo 16 moonwalk mission and was aimed at studying Earth’s atmosphere.
Carruthers’ created the Science & Engineers Apprentice Program in the 80’s, which allowed high school students to visit the NRL site and learn more about astronomy. When Hailey’s Comet passed Earth last in 1986, one of Carruthers’ inventions captured ultraviolet images of it. In 1991, one of his camera inventions was used in a space shuttle mission.
Now 74, Carruthers, has been teaching astrophysics and atmospheric physics at Howard University since 2002.
Carruthers has recieved several awards based on his research, including the Arthur S. Flemming Award, the Warner Prize from the American Astronomical Society, and an Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal from NASA.
Carruthers is one of the recipients of the 2011 National Medal of Technology and Innovation. His medal was presented by President Obama in 2013 at the ceremony to honor those who have achieved significant scientific achievements.
(Photo: National Science and Technology Medals Foundation)
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