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Dr. Charles Meegan, a BATSE co-investigator, noted van Paradijs's personal and professional qualities. "I will remember Jan not just as an outstanding astronomer, but mostly as a delightful person to be with and talk to," Meegan said. "He had wide-ranging interests, a lively sense of humor, and an infectious joie de vivre. What most impressed me, though, were his courage and dignity in the face of adversity. He never succumbed to despair or self-pity but continued to work on papers and review articles as long as he was able. His friendship has enriched the lives of many, and he will be greatly missed." Many of those whom he enriched were students he taught at UAH. "For me, working with Jan was extremely rewarding," said Tim Giblin, one of van Paradijs's graduate students at UAH who work with the BATSE team at NASA/Marshall. "In the months before his death, our ideas came together beautifully and culminated into a new insight regarding the relation of gamma-ray bursts and their afterglows. It saddens me to know that we will never have this opportunity again. |
Nov. 12, 1999:
Astrophysicists in Huntsville and around the world are mourning
the death on Nov. 2 of Dr. Johannes "Jan" van Paradijs,
one of the world's leading astrophysicists. Van Paradijs was
the Pei-Ling Chan eminent scholar in astrophysics at The University
of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) since 1993, and was professor of
astronomy at the University of Amsterdam. He worked with the
Burst and Transient Source Experiment Team (BATSE) at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center. |
 |
| Van Paradijs (left) receives the 1998 Bruno Rossi Award from Gordon Garmire on behalf of the American Astronomical Society. Credit: AAS. | Van Paradijs at work at NASA/Marshall in early 1993 during BATSE observations aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. |
"Jan had an incredible work ethic which, I believe, demonstrated how much he loved his job," said Pete Woods, another UAH graduate student. "He was very good at putting things in perspective for me and keeping me focused on the task at hand. In my experiences with him, he was always very patient, even when explaining something to me for the third time. Jan was a great mentor who always seemed to have time for his students, no matter how busy he was. I will miss him both professionally and personally. "I was always struck by Jan's love for science, by his
unique way of thinking about problems, and by his ability to
focus on the important issues in discussions with him,"
said Dr. Tom Koshut, who studied under van Paradijs as a student
and later worked with him as a colleague. "I'll miss him
for that, and I hope that I can remember some of the valuable Van Paradijs received the 1998 Bruno Rossi Prize, the highest award presented by the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society, for his role in finding the first optical counterpart to a gamma ray burst.
He earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Amsterdam. Except for two years when he was a post-doctoral fellow at MIT's Center for Space Research, he was either a research scientist or a faculty member at the University of Amsterdam since 1970. He published more than 300 scientific papers, edited over eight books, and continued working in the field through his nearly year-long battle with cancer. Even though in great pain in his final weeks, he wrote a "Perspectives" article in October in the journal Science on possible links between gamma ray bursts and supernovae. He was chair of last month's Fifth Huntsville Gamma Ray Burst Symposium, held just three weeks before he passed away. Fishman noted that van Paradijs desperately wanted to attend the meeting but could not due to his failing health. He did send a taped greeting to his friends and colleagues at the symposium. Van Paradijs served on the boards of directors of the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy and the European Astrophysics Doctoral Network, and was a member of several scientific organizations. Van Paradijs is survived by his wife, Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou, an astrophysicist with the Universities Space Research Asociation at NASA/Marshall, and by two children, Oskar van Paradijs and Deirdre van Bunnik-van Paradijs, and by three grandchildren. |
Right: In The Netherlands, van Paradijs poses with
several colleagues from Huntsville. From left are: Dr. Gerald
Fishman, Dr. Bill Pacieses of UAH, Dr. Mark Finger of NASA/Marshall,
van Paradijs, and his wife, Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou.|
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