Robert Grant Aitken

Robert Grant Aitken (December 31, 1864 – October 29, 1951) was an American astronomer. Aitken attended Williams College in Massachusetts and graduated with an undergraduate degree in 1887.

Career From 1887–1891, he worked as a mathematics instructor at Livermore, California, then received his M.A. from Williams College in 1892. He became a professor of mathematics at the College of the Pacific, another liberal arts school. he was awarded the prestigious Bruce Medal in 1926. Elected member of the American Philosophical Society (1919) Bruce Medal (1926) Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (1932) Rittenhouse Medal (1934) Honorary Sc.D. from College of the Pacific, Williams College, University of Arizona, and an honorary LL.D. from the University of California Named after him Minor planet 3070 Aitken Lunar crater Aitken, part of the very large South Pole-Aitken basin Aitken supercomputer at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA