Editing Lloyd Berkner

{{Short description|American physicist and engineer}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Lloyd Viel Berkner
| image             = <!--(filename only)-->
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1905|2|1|mf=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Milwaukee]], [[Wisconsin]], United States
| death_date        = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1967|6|4|1905|2|1}}
| death_place       = [[Washington D.C.]], United States
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = 
| fields            = [[Geophysics]]
| workplaces        = 
| alma_mater        = [[University of Minnesota]], B.S. 1927
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| academic_advisors = 
| doctoral_students = 
| notable_students  = 
| known_for         = Proposing the International Geophysical Year for 1957-1958, various work in aeronautics, meteorology and education
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| awards            = [[William Bowie Medal]] {{small|(1967)}}
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_alt     = 
| footnotes         = 
| children          = 2
}}

'''Lloyd Viel Berkner''' (February 1, 1905 – June 4, 1967<ref name="hales">{{Cite web|last=Hales|first=Anton|title=Lloyd Viel Berkner|publisher=National Academies Press|year=2009|url=http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2037&page=3|accessdate=January 25, 2010}}</ref>) was an American [[physicist]] and [[engineer]]. He was one of the inventors of the measuring device that since has become standard at ionospheric stations<ref>L.V. Berkner and H.W. Wells: Trans. Ass. Terr. Magn. Electr. Bull, No. 10,340-357 (1937)</ref> because it measures the height and electron density of the [[ionosphere]]. The data obtained in the worldwide net of such instruments <ref>W.R.Piggott and Karl Rawer:"URSI Handbook of [[Ionophere|Ionogram]] Interpretation and Reduction", Elsevier, Amsterdam 1961, 192pp</ref> were important for the developing theory of [[short wave]] radio propagation to which Berkner himself gave important contributions.

Berkner was elected to the United States [[National Academy of Sciences]] in 1948.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lloyd V. Berkner |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/deceased-members/20001758.html |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref>  He was president of [[Associated Universities, Inc.]] from 1951 to 1960.

Later he investigated the development of the [[Earth's atmosphere]]. Since he needed data from the whole world, he proposed the [[International Geophysical Year]] in 1950.<ref name="hales"/> At that time, the IGY was the largest cooperative study of the Earth ever undertaken.

Berkner was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] and a member of the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 1956.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|accessdate=June 16, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=APS Member History |url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Lloyd+Berkner&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref> The [[International Geophysical Year|IGY]] was carried out by the [[International Council for Science|International Council of Scientific Unions]] while he was president in 1957–1959. He was also a member of the [[President's Scientific Advisory Committee]] in 1958 while he was president of Associated Universities Inc.

In 1963, Berkner, with L.C. Marshall, advanced a theory to describe the way in which the atmospheres of the [[Solar System]]'s inner planets had evolved.

Beginning in 1926, as a naval officer, Berkner assisted in the development of radar and navigation systems, naval aircraft electronics engineering, and studies that led to the construction of the [[Distant Early Warning Line|Distant Early Warning]] system, a chain of radar stations designed to give the United States advance warning in the event of a missile attack across the North Pole.<ref name="hales"/><ref>Allan A. Needell. Science, Cold War and the American State, Routledge, 2013, {{ISBN|905702621X}}</ref> In the 1950s and 1960s, Berkner held intelligence clearances in the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] and other agencies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015 |title=FBI FOIA Request |url=https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/paranormal/fbi-berkner-release2.pdf |website=The Black Vault}}</ref> He worked with the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] in some capacity as well, but any activities are wholly [[Classified information in the United States|classified]] as of 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berkner CIA FOIA Request |url=https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/fbifiles/paranormal/berkner-cia-classified.pdf |website=The Black Vault}}</ref>

Berkner worked with Dallas community leaders to establish the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (later renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies, which would eventually become The [[University of Texas at Dallas]]).<ref name="hales"/>

He wrote more than 100 papers and several books, including ''Rockets and Satellites'' (1958), ''Science in Space'' (1961), and ''The Scientific Age'' (1964).

In 1961, Berkner was president of the [[Institute of Radio Engineers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Lloyd_V._Berkner |title=Lloyd V. Berkner |author= |date= |work=IEEE Global History Network |publisher=IEEE |accessdate=10 August 2011}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[Lloyd V. Berkner High School]] in [[Richardson, Texas]] was named after him in 1969, as was Lloyd V. Berkner Hall at the [[University of Texas at Dallas]], and Berkner Hall auditorium/cafeteria at [[Brookhaven National Laboratory]]. The lunar crater [[Berkner (crater)|Berkner]] was named in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Blue|first=Jennifer|title=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature; Moon Nomenclature: Crater, craters|publisher=United States Geological Survey|url=http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/702|accessdate=June 16, 2011}}</ref> [[Berkner Island]] in [[Antarctica]] was also named for Berkner because of his work as a radio operator on the first Byrd expedition to Antarctica in 1928.<ref name="hales"/>

Berkner was married to Lillian Fulks Berkner and had two children.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.nasonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/berkner-lloyd-v.pdf National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Berkner, Lloyd}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1967 deaths]]
[[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American physicists]]
[[Category:Scientists from Milwaukee]]
[[Category:Engineers from Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:20th-century American engineers]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]
[[Category:Acacia members]]