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BornIndianapolis, Indiana, USA, 29 July 1908

DiedAnn Arbor, Michigan, USA, 17 September 1985

Orren Mohler served as director of the University of Michigan Observatories from 1961 until 1970 and continued as director of the McMath–Hulbert Solar Observatory [MHO] until 1979.

Mohler received his AB in 1929 from Michigan Normal College, followed by an MA (1930) and Ph.D. (1933) from the University of Michigan. From 1933 to 1940, Mohler taught astronomy at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, and worked as an astronomer at the private observatory of amateur astronomer Gustavus Wynne Cook (1867–1940). While working for Cook, Mohler conducted observing programs on the spectrographic binary star TX Leonis and on Nova Herculis 1934. He also attempted to improve the quantum efficiency of the Geiger–Muller counter so it could count individual protons.

In 1940, Mohler became the first full‐time professional astronomer at MHO of the University of Michigan at Lake Angelus near Pontiac, Michigan....

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  • Miller, Freeman D. (1986). “Orren C. Mohler,” Physics Today 39, no. 4: 74.

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© 2007 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

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Whitesell, P.S. (2007). Mohler, Orren Cuthbert. In: Hockey, T., et al. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_965

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