IN MEMORIAM
PROFESSOR OF ASTRONOMY--FRANK K. EDMONDSON
1912-2008
Gamma of Indiana wishes to acknowledge Prof. Frank K. Edmondson, a scientist, a gentleman and a loyal member and patron of this organization for more than seventy years. Professor Edmondson passed away on December 8, 2008. He was initiated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa at the conclusion of his junior year of undergraduate study here at Indiana University in 1932, over 70 years ago. Four years later, after receiving his doctorate from Harvard University, he returned to our campus as a professor in his chosen field of Astronomy. He was a leading member and long-serving treasurer of the American Astronomical Society. Professor Edmondson was a distinguished researcher and cherished colleague with an international reputation. Here in Bloomington, he was a much beloved teacher and campus leader, and in the spirit Hoosier pride, he named several comets that he had identified after past presidents of Indiana University. In 1972 he served as president of the Gamma Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Professor Edmonson had a remarkable – indeed, an almost perfect – record of attendance at chapter meetings and banquets. His late wife, Margaret Russell Edmondson, herself a member of Phi Beta Kappa, accompanied Dr. Edmonson to many of those banquets. In her memory, Professor Edmondson created the Margaret Russell Edmondson Award, given each spring to the IU student inducted into Phi Beta Kappa during the fall or spring who best exemplifies academic excellence. The Gamma of Indiana Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa appreciates Professor Frank Edmondson’s enthusiastic participation and support throughout the years. He will be missed.
