of Michigan faculty and staff portrait
collection
DIRECTOR 1930-41
Heber Doust Curtis was born in Muskegon, Michigan on June 27, 1872. He attended the University of Michigan but did not study the sciences. While teaching Latin and Greek, he became interested in astronomy as an amateur and volunteered at the Lick Observatory in California. After taking a teaching position in mathematics and astronomy at a small college, he decided to go back to school and study astronomy, receiving a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Virginia in 1902. Curtis built his career at the Lick Observatory and then became the director of the Allegheny Observatory in 1920. In 1930, Curtis returned to the University of Michigan as the director of its observatories. In 1931, the Regents, citing confusion with the name Detroit Observatory, renamed the Observatory complex “The Observatories of the University of Michigan.” The Great Depression ended Curtis’ plans for a new, large reflecting telescope at Michigan, but he was notable for his experience on numerous solar expeditions, his work on stellar spectroscopy, his study of nebulae, his respected teaching, and his valued administrative skills. He took a special interest in the McMath-Hulbert Observatory at Lake Angelus, Michigan. Curtis died at the Detroit Observatory director’s residence on January 9, 1942. He was scheduled to retire in June.
