William Albert Hiltner

William Albert Hiltner (27 August 1914 – 30 September 1991) was an American astronomer, noted for his work leading up to the discovery of interstellar polarization. He was an early practitioner of precision stellar photometry, and a pioneering observer of the optical counterparts of celestial x-ray sources.

Hiltner was director of Yerkes Observatory for many years, while there he designed and built a rotatable telescope for polarization studies and developed photometric instrumentation.

After retiring from his professorship at University of Michigan, he joined the staff of the Carnegie Observatories to become the Project Manager for the Magellan Telescope Project, a program to build two 6.5 meter telescopes on Las Campanas in Chile.

Education

His undergrad was at the University of Toledo and his graduate studies were at the University of Michigan culminating in a doctorate in astrophysics in 1942. They had four children. Anne Hiltner was a polymer chemist at Case Western Reserve. Kathryn Mook became a professional handweaver and hospital administrator. William A. Hiltner, Jr. became a carpenter and architect. Stephen K. Hiltner is a jazz musician and composer, and founded the nonprofit Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association and Friends of Herrontown Woods.

Awards and honors

Asteroid 4924 Hiltner, discovered by astronomer Schelte J. Bus in 1981, was named in his memory.