Dorrit Hoffleit, notable astonomer, dies at 100
Had important ties to Maria Mitchell Association
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
Renowned female astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit, who played an influential role in developing programs of the island's Maria Mitchell Association, died of complications from cancer at her New Haven, Conn. home on April 9 at the age of 100.

COURTESY OF VLADIMIR STRELNIKSKI Acclaimed astronomer Dorrit Hoffleit on Nantucket in 2004 when she came to witness the transit of Venus between the Sun and the Earth.

Ms. Hoffleit, who was Director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory for 21 years, conducted research and taught students of astronomy on Nantucket during summers and into shoulder seasons from 1957 through 1978. She was last on the island in 2004 to witness the transit of Venus between the Sun and Earth, which had not occurred for 120 years. "She dreamed about that," said Vladimir Strelnitski, the MMA's Director of Astronomy.

Strelnitski, who knew Ms. Hoffleit well and visited her two weeks prior to her death, said Ms. Hoffleit's mind was still sharp during their recent reunion. He had looked forward to co-writing an article with her for next year's 100th anniversary of the Maria Mitchell Observatory. "At the beginning of the 1960s, Dorrit was the first person in the country who started getting federal money for teaching astronomy students by live, hands-on research here," Strelnitski noted. "She invited several women students every year."

In the 1980s a nationwide program called Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) was begun based principally on Ms. Hoffleit's model with the MMA. The association is still supported in this program through federal grants.

"What is going on with the Maria Mitchell Association now is Dorrit's legacy," Strelnitski said. "She and her students discovered dozens of new variable stars using the research telescope - a 7.5-inch photographic Cooke-Clark telescope - which for almost a century was the only telescope here. Dorrit was the first to launch a nationwide program with students coming from all over the country. It was the most important thing Dorrit did for the association. We are one of the two dozen official sites for the REU in astronomy financed by the National Science Foundation, and the credit for this should be completely given to Dorrit."

Ms. Hoffleit, who earned a doctorate in astronomy from Radcliffe College in 1938, was born in Florence, Ala. to German immigrants. Her family eventually relocated from Pennsylvania to Cambridge, Mass., and she was hired into Yale University's astronomy department in 1956. She was the primary author of Yale's Bright Star Catalogue and was honored with numerous awards.

Ms. Hoffleit, who died shortly after her 100th birthday on March 12, is survived by a niece. Service plans

have not been finalized. I