James Van Allen

James Van Allen
James Van Allen
	Van Allen at the National Air and Space Museum, 1977
Born	James Alfred Van Allen; September 7, 1914; Mount Pleasant, Iowa, US
Died	August 9, 2006 (aged 91); Iowa City, Iowa, US
Education	Iowa Wesleyan College B.S.; University of Iowa (M.S., Ph.D.);
Known for	Van Allen radiation belts; Magnetospheric physics;
Awards	Time magazine Man of the Year (1960); Elliott Cresson Medal (1961); William Bowie Medal (1977); National Medal of Science (1987); Crafoord Prize (1989); Vannevar Bush Award (1991);
	Scientific career
Fields	Space science
Institutions	Carnegie Institution for Science (1939–1942); University of Iowa (1951–1985); Johns Hopkins University;
Thesis	Absolute cross-section for the nuclear disintegration H2 + H2 --> H1 + H3 and its dependence on bombarding energy (1939)
Doctoral advisor	Alexander Ellett
Doctoral students	Michelle Thomsen; Stamatios Krimigis;
Other notable students	Nicholas M. Smith; Robert Ellis

James Alfred Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa. He was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space.

The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following his discovery using Geiger–Müller tube instruments on the 1958 satellites (Explorer 1, Explorer 3, and Pioneer 3) during the International Geophysical Year. Van Allen led the scientific community in putting scientific research instruments on space satellites.

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