Richard Martin West

He is also credited by the Minor Planet Center with the discovery of 40 minor planets between 1976 and 1986,

West was a leading figure in helping out and establishing serious collaborations with the scientific communities of the Central and Eastern European countries in the wake of the political, social and economical turmoil following the collapse and dismantling of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s.

West retired in 2005, after a continuous employment at ESO.