Full Text of HR0832 102nd General Assembly
HR0832 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0832 | | LRB102 27206 LAW 38827 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Eugene | 4 | | N. Parker, Ph.D. of Chicago, who passed away on March 15, 2022; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker was born to Glenn Parker and Helen | 7 | | (MacNair) Parker in Houghton, Michigan on June 10, 1927; he | 8 | | received his Bachelor of Science in Physics from Michigan | 9 | | State University in 1948; he earned his Ph.D. from the | 10 | | California Institute of Technology in 1951; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker was an acclaimed astrophysicist and | 12 | | professor emeritus of the University of Chicago; he began his | 13 | | academic career as an instructor and assistant professor at | 14 | | the University of Utah from 1951 to 1955; he then accepted a | 15 | | position at the University of Chicago in 1955, where he | 16 | | remained for the rest of his career; he retired in 1995 and | 17 | | continued to publish articles and books in retirement; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Early in his tenure at the University of Chicago, | 19 | | Dr. Parker predicted the existence of solar wind, a continuous | 20 | | outpouring of charged particles traveling from the sun at a | 21 | | million miles per hour; his initial research was a | 22 | | collaboration with John A. Simpson about cosmic rays, which |
| | | HR0832 | - 2 - | LRB102 27206 LAW 38827 r |
|
| 1 | | led him into developing a mathematical theory that predicted | 2 | | solar wind; he published his prediction in 1958 despite almost | 3 | | no one believing him, including the reviewers of his paper and | 4 | | the editor of The Astrophysical Journal that published it; he | 5 | | was vindicated four years later when, exactly as he predicted, | 6 | | the NASA spacecraft Mariner 2 observed energetic particles | 7 | | streaming through interplanetary space while en route to | 8 | | Venus; he continued to revolutionize the field throughout his | 9 | | career, advancing ideas that addressed the fundamental | 10 | | questions about the workings of the sun and stars throughout | 11 | | the universe; due to his groundbreaking work, he has been | 12 | | credited by many for bringing the field of heliophysics into | 13 | | existence; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker became the first living person to have | 15 | | a NASA spacecraft named in his honor; he was the namesake of | 16 | | the Parker Solar Probe that launched in 2018, which was NASA's | 17 | | first mission to fly a spacecraft directly into the sun's | 18 | | atmosphere, serving as a tribute to his 1958 work that | 19 | | developed the concept of solar wind; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker received numerous accolades for his | 21 | | work, including being elected into the National Academy of | 22 | | Sciences in 1967, receiving the National Medal of Science in | 23 | | 1989, and being awarded the Crafoord Prize in Astronomy by the | 24 | | Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2020; and
|
| | | HR0832 | - 3 - | LRB102 27206 LAW 38827 r |
|
| 1 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker was a visionary and one of the great | 2 | | scientific minds and leaders of the era; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Dr. Parker is survived by his wife of 67 years, | 4 | | Niesje Parker; his brother, Phillip; his son, Eric Glenn | 5 | | (Susan) Parker; his daughter, Joyce Marie (Ed) Parker; his | 6 | | grandchildren, Owen (Allison) Loh, Miles (Michelle) Loh, and | 7 | | Nolan (fiancée, Hillary Wang) Loh; and his | 8 | | great-grandchildren, Lena and Elliott; therefore, be it
| 9 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 10 | | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 11 | | we mourn the passing of Eugene N. Parker, Ph.D. and extend our | 12 | | sincere condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew | 13 | | and loved him; and be it further
| 14 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 15 | | presented to the family of Dr. Parker as an expression of our | 16 | | deepest sympathy.
|
|