Arthur D. Code

Madison - Arthur Dodd Code, age 85, died on March 11, 2009 at Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, from complications following a longstanding pulmonary condition. He was born on August 13, 1923 in Brooklyn New York, the only child of Lorne Arthur Code and Jesse May Code (formerly Dodd). During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy (1943-45) where he became an electronics technician, and subsequently remained stateside as an instructor of radar and sonar. He had already decided at a young age that he was going to be an astrophysicist, and went on to graduate school at Yerkes Observatory/University of Chicago, receiving an S.M. (1947) and a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics (1950) without ever having completed his undergraduate degree. Early in his career he held posts at the University of Virginia (1949-50), the University of Wisconsin (1950-56), and at the California Institute of Technology and Mount Wilson and Palomar Observatories (1956-58). Subsequently he returned to the University of Wisconsin where he served as a Professor of Astronomy, Director of Washburn Observatory, and Chairman of the Department of Astronomy (1958-70). At the time of his death he was the Joel Stebbins and Hilldale Professor of Astronomy Emeritus, and had recently been an Adjunct Professor at the University of Arizona Steward Observatory, and the WIYN Observatory Scientist for the WIYN telescope. Art was active in stellar astronomy, astronomical instrumentation and space astronomy.  He was extensively involved in the national space program since the inception of NASA in 1958, founded and for many years directed the University of Wisconsin Space Astronomy Laboratory, and was Principal Investigator for the first successful orbiting observatory, the Wisconsin Experimental Package aboard the first Orbiting Astronomical Observatory launched December 7, 1968. He also served as President of the American Astronomical Society, as the founding acting director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (which operates the Hubble Space Telescope), and as Principal Investigator for the Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment, which flew on space shuttle missions in 1990 and 1995. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Public Service Award (1970), the University of Chicago's Professional Achievement Award (1971), and NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Public Service Medal (1992). He was a member of the National Academy of Science (elected 1971), the International Academy of Astronautics (1972), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1974). Throughout his career he was eager to educate the general public about space research and to teach children about astronomy, and he took pleasure in lecturing at such venues as the University of Wisconsin Space Place that he helped initiate. Art is survived by Mary Guild Code, his wife of 65 years; four children, Alan (Mina), Douglas (Sara), Edith (Svend) and David (Karin); and six grandchildren, Kim and Thomas (Edith and Svend), Kjartan, Larena, Astrid and Mai Elise (David and Karin); and his sister-in-law, Sarah Ball. For the bulk of his retirement years he relocated to Tucson, a top astronomy center, and from 2000-2007 lived in the desert environment of the Academy Village where he and Mary were part of the initial wave of residents. As an avid nature lover, he said that this was a perfect place to come to retire without retiring', and he continued his hobby as a ham radio operator. In addition to involving himself in the Academy Village community he was able to keep pursuing his work in astronomy through his affiliations with local observatories and the University of Arizona. Art was an organ donor and the family was told that this would benefit approximately forty patients. A memorial service will be held at 3:00PM on Sunday, March 15, 2009, in the Nakoma/Westmoreland Room at Oakwood Village, Heritage, 6205 Mineral Point Road, Madison, WI 53705. There is also an online Facebook memorial page where people can contribute memories, comments, links and photos:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56653932209

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the following: the Meriter Foundation (http://www.meriter.com/family/foundation/gift.htm); the Oakwood Foundation (608-230-4246); the Astronomy Department of the University of Wisconsin (http://www.astro.wisc.edu/your_gift.html); or the First Unitarian Church (http://www.fusmadison.org/visitor/paypal.shtml) . The Code family would like to thank the ICU staff at Meriter Hospital for their excellent care and kindness.