Daily Image
13-05-2012
Jan Noordam turns 65 and is appointed Resident Visionary
| Submitter: | Tom Oosterloo |
| Description: | Today, May 13 2012, Jan Noordam reaches the respectable age of 65. Birthdays normally are reasons for celebration, although for some people reaching the particular milestone of 65 is more complex because with it comes retirement, the end of the active working career and other complicated changes in life. Jan, however, does not have this problem. Instead of stop working and leaving Astron, today is the start of the highpoint of his working life because Jan will continue his career at Astron as Resident Visionary, a title everybody will understand he is very proud of. This appointment is the recognition of his many important contributions, over a period of 37 years, to the discussions at Astron. In many of the wonderful projects Astron has undertaken over the years, Jan's input has been important and, in particular, very original. This last is because Jan's horizon (in space but also in time) is much broader than that of most people so Jan has a better view of things to come. To celebrate Jan's 65 birthday, to underline his many contributions to Astron and astronomy, and to mark the start of his new position, on June 15 (1300-1800) we are organizing a Mini-Symposium at Astron. A program with speakers will be announced next week via the Astron homepage and the daily image. By the way, if one would measure impact by sheer numbers, Jan's most important contribution has been his instigation of the Astron/Jive Picture of the Day (AJPOD). About 6 years ago, Jan suggested we display a daily web-window on Astron, showing all aspects of the organization, on the science, but also about the normal life at Astron and other things. At the time, nobody (except Jan of course) believed it would last long, but Jan's Visionary capabilities turned out to be right. Six years later the AJPODs are still going strong. Over the years, daily images have been looked at about 2,000,000 (two million!!!) times in total, by about 50,000 (fifty thousand!!!!) different people from more than 100 countries. Most people know Astron because of the AJPODs!!! |
| Copyright: | Astron |
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