Lincoln LaPaz

Who was Lincoln LaPaz?

Lincoln LaPaz was an American astronomer from the University of New Mexico and a pioneer in the study of meteors.

He was born in Wichita, Kansas on February 12, 1897 to Charles Melchior LaPaz and Emma Josephine. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1920 in mathematics at Fairmont College and also taught there between 1917 and 1920. He earned his Masters degree via a scholarship at Harvard University, completed in 1922. On June 18, 1922, he married Leota Ray Butler and later had two children, Leota Jean and Mary Strode. Between 1922 and 1925 he taught at Dartmouth College.

He received his Ph.D. in 1928 at the University of Chicago, where he instructed for a short time and acted as National Research Fellow. In 1930, he was assistant professor at Ohio State University and became associate professor in 1936 and finally professor in 1942, where he helped develop the graduate mathematics program.

LaPaz took leave from Ohio State to the New Mexico Proving Ground during World War II where he was a Research Mathematician, and later as Technical Director, Operations Analysis Section, Second Air Force. This is where he became interested in ballistics as well as meteorites.