Winifred Cameron
{{short description|American astronomer}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Winifred Cameron
| image = WinifredSCameron1964.jpg
| alt = A white woman with dark hair, from a 1964 newspaper
| caption = Winifred S. Cameron, from a 1964 newspaper
| birth_name = Winifred J. Sawtell
| birth_date = December 3, 1918
| birth_place = Oak Park, Illinois
| death_date = March 29, 2016
| death_place = Lehigh Acres, Florida
| nationality = American
| other_names =
| occupation = Astronomer
| years_active =
| known_for = Worked on Gemini, Apollo programs
| notable_works = Lunar Transient Phenomena database
| spouse = Robert Curry Cameron
}}
Winifred Sawtell Cameron (December 3, 1918 – March 29, 2016) was an American astronomer. She worked at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland for most of her career, and compiled the Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) database. She was involved in the Gemini and Apollo programs.
Early life
Winifred J. Sawtell was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the daughter of Amos Alexander Sawtell and Mildred Winifred Shields Sawtell. Her father was an accountant.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939671/amos_alexander_sawtell_1950/|title=Amos Alexander Sawtell|date=March 17, 1950|work=The Palm Beach Post|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}} She was a Girl Scout,{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-dec-18-1931-1197050/|title=Girl Scouts|date=December 18, 1931|work=Oak Park Oak Leaves|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=36|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} and graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1936.{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-sep-18-1936-1197037/|title=Many Students Enter Colleges as Freshmen|date=September 18, 1936|work=Oak Parker|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=17|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} She earned a bachelor's degree and a teaching credential at Northern Illinois University in 1940, and completed a master's degree in astronomy at Indiana University Bloomington in 1952.{{Cite web|url=https://aas.org/obituaries/winifred-s-cameron-1918-2016|title=Winifred S. Cameron (1918 - 2016) {{!}} American Astronomical Society|last=Hirshfeld|first=Alan|website=aas.org|access-date=May 26, 2019|archive-date=May 26, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526150733/https://aas.org/obituaries/winifred-s-cameron-1918-2016|url-status=dead}}
Career
After college, Sawtell worked at Weather Forecasts, Inc. in Chicago, from 1943 to 1946, and again from 1949 to 1950. She taught astronomy at Mount Holyoke College from 1950 to 1951. She was a researcher at the United States Naval Observatory from 1951 to 1958, analyzing sunspots.
In 1959, Winifred Cameron and her husband both joined NASA's new Goddard Space Flight Center, where she was a lunar expert{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31940043/winifred_s_cameron_1966/|title=A Triple Watch on the Moon|last=Perkinson|first=William J.|date=June 28, 1966|work=The Evening Sun|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=20|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31940173/winifred_s_cameron_1964/|title=Expert to Lecture on Moon Photos|date=October 21, 1964|work=The Evening Sun|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=75|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite journal|last1=O'Keefe|first1=John A.|last2=Lowman|first2=Paul D.|last3=Cameron|first3=Winifred S.|date=1967|title=Lunar Ring Dikes from Lunar Orbiter I|journal=Science|volume=155|issue=3758|pages=77–79|issn=0036-8075|jstor=1721091|doi=10.1126/science.155.3758.77|pmid=17799150|bibcode=1967Sci...155...77O|s2cid=19699372 }} and head of Data Acquisition and Analysis.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31938481/winifred_s_cameron_1972/|title=Astronomical League Convention Boasts NASA Officials as Speakers|date=June 8, 1972|work=York Daily Record|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=15|via=Newspapers.com}} She compiled the Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) database, still in use.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/observingmoon00gera|url-access=registration|quote=Winifred S. Cameron.|title=Observing the Moon: The Modern Astronomer's Guide|last=North|first=Gerald|date=July 27, 2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521622745|pages=[https://archive.org/details/observingmoon00gera/page/357 357]–358|language=en}} She was astronomer-on-base at Cape Canaveral during two Mercury flights, and an advisor on the Apollo Moon landings. She was the only woman scientist in attendance at the international Lunar Geological Field Conference in Oregon in 1965.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939287/winifred_s_cameron_1965/|title=Lunar Scientists Wind Up Oregon Meet|last=Wright|first=Tom|date=August 28, 1965|work=Statesman Journal|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=12|via=Newspapers.com}} She gave frequent talks on her work to civic organizations, schools,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31940398/winifred_sawtell_cameron_1972/|title=NASA Astronomer Enlists Local Help|date=October 12, 1972|work=Warren Times-Mirror and Observer|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=14|via=Newspapers.com}} and amateur astronomers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939159/winifred_s_cameron_1972/|title=Astronomy Club Speaker Slated|date=September 29, 1972|work=Warren Times-Mirror and Observer|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=13|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939822/winifred_s_cameron_1947/|title=Public Lecture Tonight at Goethe Link Observatory|date=October 26, 1947|work=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=15|via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1974, Cameron was a technologist at the National Space Science Data Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31932623/winifred_s_cameron_1974/|title=Scientist to Address Thiel Women|date=April 24, 1974|work=Simpson's Leader-Times|access-date=May 25, 2019|page=8|via=Newspapers.com}} She retired from NASA in 1984, but continued working on the LTP database.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939116/winifred_s_cameron_1980/|title=Scientists Intrigued by Lunar Phenomena|last=Wilford|first=John Noble|date=July 20, 1980|work=Tampa Bay Times|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=14|via=Newspapers.com}} She was a member of the International Astronomical Union,{{Cite web|url=https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/3058/|title=Winifred S. Cameron|website=International Astronomical Union|access-date=May 26, 2019}} the American Astronomical Society, the American Geophysical Union, and the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers.
Personal life
Winifred Sawtell married fellow astronomer Robert Curry Cameron in 1953.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31941614/winifred_j_sawtell_cameron/|title=Robert C. Cameron, Bride, Due Home from Honeymoon|date=November 8, 1953|work=The Indianapolis Star|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=78|via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/marriage-clipping-may-21-1953-1197056/|title=Winifred Sawtell, Robert Cameron to Wed this Fall|date=May 21, 1953|work=Oak Park Oak Leaves|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=39|via=NewspaperArchive.com}} They had two daughters, Selene and Sheri. Robert died in 1972. Winifred died in 2016, aged 98, in Lehigh Acres, Florida.
There is an asteroid named 1575 Winifred, after Cameron;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/31939514/winifred_s_cameron_1967/|title=She Has Own Planet|date=July 29, 1967|work=The Daily Times|access-date=May 26, 2019|page=3|via=Newspapers.com}} and she named a lunar crater Cameron in memory of her husband.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-press/obituary.aspx?pid=179662759 Obituary] from The News-Press, April 19, 2016.
- W. S. Cameron, [http://users.aber.ac.uk/atc/tlp/cameron.pdf "Analyses of Lunar Transient Phenomena (LTP) Observations from 557–1994 A.D."] An academic paper by Winifred S. Cameron.
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Category:American women astronomers
Category:Scientists from Oak Park, Illinois
Category:Indiana University Bloomington alumni