Dr. Neil Zimmerman

Here's an amazing story... About 20 years ago this nine-year old boy came to our astronomy club, brought there by his dad, faithfully, week after week after week. He was really enthusiastic about astronomy, and really enjoyed our meetings. He became interested in observing, and I loaned him one of my telescopes for a while. He grew up, went off to college, got a Bachelor's and Masters in Electrical Engineering, and then went on to get a Masters and then a PhD in Astronomy! Wow! He is now a professional astronomer, headed to Germany for three years for his post doc work. He has observed using the Hale telescope on Mt. Palomar and was part of a team which confirmed the physical association of the star Alcor's dwarf companion. Wow! And to think he had his start as a fourth grader in our astronomy club! He was the lecturer tonight at our meeting and it boggled my mind to hear him talk of his work, and then to think back to twenty years ago.