Joseph "Joe" Miles Chamberlain - a remarkable person and outstanding Bradley graduate

Probably most will not be familiar with this name and also probably didn't note the obituary in the paper.
He passed away Tuesday at the age of 88 and a half..residing lately at Lutheran Home/Hillside Village.

BUT -- Miles Joseph "Joe" Chamberlain was not only a big Bradley basketball fan, he was also one of Bradley University's MOST distinguished graduates EVER!
So, who was he??

-First - he was an amazingly intelligent and productive student - born in Peoria, then serving in WWII contributing major advancements to Naval intelligence and navigational technology.

-After WWII Joe returned to Peoria and completed his studies at Bradley - graduating alongside his close, lifelong friend and Bradley Uhniversity classmate, Robert "Bob" Michel.

-He then went to Columbia University and got his doctorate in Astronomy and Celestial studies and was considered to be one of the top two or three most reknowned people in his field - later, in the 1960's Joe's name was often mentioned as one of the top two in his field alongside his close friend and Cornell grad Carl Sagan.

-Joe's skills and knowledge were in high demand and after a couple years teaching he was hired as the Chairman then Curator of the American Museum and Hayden Planetarium in New York.
When the same position opened at Adler Planetarium in Chicago he jumped at the chance to get back to the midwest.
After almost a quarter of a century as the Curator, President, and Director of the Adler Planetarium in Chicago - he retired in 1991 and has been living with his wife in Peoria ever since. For a while he lives right next to the Molinari's in a subdivision in North Peoria.
His stint at Adler made him known in Astronomy circles as literally being Mr. Planetarium and his efforts kept the planetarium successful and relevant while many other similar endeavors around the nation faltered.

-During his career he did research, published articles, helped make major discoveries, and worked alongside some of the world's top physicists and astronomers...including Sagan ..as this column & interview mentions....
http://www.aip.org/history/ohilist/23364.html

He authored MAJOR textbooks on astronomy, space, planets, and the like - some of which are still current and used today!!
http://www.amazon.com/Chamberlain-Nicholson-Astronomer-Museum-Hayden-Planetarium/dp/B000R8AIP2

-Joe was my wife's uncle and an amazingly interesting and engaging person to talk with and listen to. He was also a tremendous, humble, generous, and friendly man who never sought to make a name for himself but instead to help advance the causes for which he worked. He will be missed, and although his time at Bradley predated most of us, and his work worldwide has only rarely been noted anywhere in Peoria, nor acknowledged by Bradley - he was and is one of the finest, most accomplished, most successful graduates ever produced by Bradley in any field.

Hopefully Bradley University should see fit to honor Joe in some way.

http://campaign.bradley.edu/updates/oldfogies.shtml

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/pjstar/obituary.aspx?n=joseph-chamberlain&pid=154838943

http://wwwdev3.bradley.edu/about/centurion_society.shtml#TB_inline?height=300&width=300&inlineId=Chamberlain


Other references of Joe's works...

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=tf2p300278;style=oac4;view=dsc

http://aas.org/taxonomy/term/16?page=31

http://www.astronautical.org/about/history


PS -- Joe's sister is Barbara Abegg - wife of Dr. Martin Abegg - past President of Bradley University.
One of Joe's nephews, Martin "Marty" Abegg, Jr. is one of the top and world reknowned experts on the Dead Sea Scrolls - writing books and traveling the world speaking on the subject...

http://twu.ca/academics/faculty/profiles/abegg-martin.html

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Sea-Scrolls-New-Translation/dp/006076662X

http://www.twu.ca/academics/graduate/biblical/dead-sea-institute.html


Joe's life spanned from the early 1920's - the tail end of the era of horse drawn wagons - all the way into the 21st century....a span of incredible advancement and achievement! And yet Joe always knew that no matter how powerful man may think he is and no matter how much man may think he knows, the amount NOT KNOWN is still infinite!

Even with all the advancements in technology & understanding, we seem to have gotten no closer to knowing all the facts....and the more we see discover and learn the more it proves to us how much we DO NOT KNOW!
Only an infinitely knowledgable and powerful intelligence can be at play here - and anyone who doesn't concede that fact is denying the obvious.