J. Virginia Lincoln

Jeannette Virginia Lincoln (September 7, 1915 – August 1, 2003) was an American physicist. Lincoln was unsurprisingly deep into her family's military life and continued with this throughout her life.

Career In 1942, Lincoln began work in the Interservice Radio Propagation Laboratory (later renamed the Central Radio Propagation Laboratory or CRPL) at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Washington, D.C. In 1946 the CRPL (Central Radio Propagation Laboratory) was created in order to keep information and research in a one place and to provide radio propagation predictions. These predictions included the investigation of solar and geophysical effects as well as ionospheric data. In 1954 CRPL moved to Boulder, Colorado and Lincoln's first job was a radio weather forecaster. She prepared monthly ionospheric prediction contour maps. These predictions were used in selecting frequencies for long distance radio communications. In 1949, Lincoln helped create a statistical method for predicting sunspot activity that is still used today. In 1966, she became director for the World Data Center for Solar-Terrestrial Physics. She later became the Solar-Terrestrial Physics division chief for NOAA's National Geophysical and Solar-Terrestrial Data Center.

Later life In 1973, she received the Department of Commerce Gold Medal for Distinguished Service.

After Lincoln retired, she became involved with the Boulder Historical Museum, traveled extensively, and played golf.

Lincoln died in Boulder at the age of 87, August 1, 2003.