Charles Pollard Olivier | |
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 Olivier, circa 1930 | |
| Born | April 10, 1884 Charlottesville, Virginia |
| Died | August 14, 1975(1975-08-14) (aged 91) Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Ph.D. |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia |
| Known for | Founder of theAmerican Meteor Society |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Frances Pender (1919) Ninuzza Seymour (1936) |
| Children | Alice Dorsey Elise Pender |
| Parent(s) | George Wythe Olivier Katharine Pollard |
Charles Pollard Olivier (April 10, 1884 – August 14, 1975) was an Americanastronomer, notable for his contributions to the study ofmeteors,double stars andvariable stars.[1]
Charles grew up inCharlottesville, Virginia, and he lived close to theUniversity of Virginia. In 1901 he became an assistant at the nearbyLeander McCormick Observatory, and in 1905 he was Vanderbilt fellow at the observatory. He completed hisPh.D. in astronomy by 1911, with a dissertation disproving the existence of stationarymeteor radiants.
In 1911 Olivier founded theAmerican Meteor Society to perform visual observations of randommeteors as well asmeteor showers. It was created as an offshoot from theAmerican Astronomical Society. Along with theBritish astronomerWilliam F. Denning, Olivier pioneered the scientific visual study of meteors.
From 1912 until 1914 he was professor of astronomy at theAgnes Scott College inDecatur, Georgia. He also served as a summer volunteer at theYerkes Observatory. He returned to the University of Virginia in 1914 as an assistant professor, and was hired onto the McCormick Observatory staff to work onparallax measurements. In 1918 he left to serve in theworld war.
Following the war he became director of the Flower Observatory at theUniversity of Pennsylvania in 1928, resigning his position as a professor at Virginia. By 1945 he was Chairman of the University of Pennsylvania department of astronomy. During the 1940s he encouraged the university to sell off the land to pay for a new observatory. This was finally completed in 1956 and was named the Flower and Cook Observatory.
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