John Findlay
John Wilson Findlay joined the NRAO staff in the Electronics Division in 1956 as employee number five. He later served as Deputy Director and as Assistant Director in Green Bank. He planned and supervised the design and fabrication of the 300-foot telescope and the 36-foot telescope on Kitt Peak. He led the technical group that designed and constructed the 28 Very Large Array (VLA) antennas. One of Findlay’s best-known research contributions to astronomy was his effort over a long period of time to establish an absolute calibration at 21 cm, for which he constructed in Green Bank the Calibration Horn Antenna, known as Little Big Horn. Findlay was involved in the international effort to protect radio astronomy frequencies from interference.
Credit: NRAO/AUI/NSF
