With great sadness, we note the passing of Helmut Moritz, Professor of Geodesy at the University of Graz, Austria (since 1971). His obituary, eloquently authored by one of his (also well-known) students, Prof. Hans Suenkel, starts with the widely acknowledged fact that he was a “brilliant scientist and highly gifted academic teacher.” This was evident in every aspect of his extensive career as a researcher and academician; and, it had a particularly profound impact at Ohio State University. Under research sponsorship funded by the US Department of Defense and NASA, Prof. Moritz was a frequent visitor to the Institute of Geodesy, Photogrammetry and Cartography and (as it later reorganized into) the Department of Geodetic Science at OSU. Here, he elucidated, elaborated, and also helped develop much of the mathematical theory of physical geodesy of the latter half of the 20th century, which ultimately led to two of the most significant textbooks in geodesy, titled, Physical Geodesy (1967, co-authored with Prof. Weikko Heiskanen, Director of the Institute) and Advanced Physical Geodesy (1980), which concentrated on putting the new ideas concerning geodetic boundary-value problems in clear perspective. Obviously, he enjoyed his visits to OSU that unfailingly occurred annually from 1962 to 1983 and resulted in 43 scientific technical reports (about 13%) in the departmental report series that also documented the research of graduate students and other visiting scientists. During these more than 20 years, Professor Moritz thus had a deeply energizing impact on geodetic research at OSU, not only advancing the theory but also stimulating interest and attracting graduate students and other prominent geodesists from all over the world, which, in turn, brought global renown to the Department as the “Center of Geodesy” (at one point characterized by a president of OSU as one of the “crown jewels” of the university).
While a student in the Department of Geodetic Science, struggling with numerous geodetic texts in the late 1970s, I had the distinct honor to know Prof. Moritz more personally and appreciated so much the clarity with which he brought abstract concepts in geodesy to the level of mere mortal beings (as we students often considered ourselves compared to the stratospheric contemporary giants of geodesy, such as Molodensky, Krarup, and Bjerhammar). Knowing him was to know a determined yet extremely humble man who always had the student’s interest in mind. He could easily take the reader of his texts from first principles to advanced concepts with humility and transparency that was unparalleled in geodetic literature.
Although physical geodesy was his principal interest at OSU, Helmut Moritz also made significant contributions in geometric geodesy (reference systems and frames) and Earth rotation. He was a principal contributor to promoting the Geodetic Reference System of 1980 (still in use today) and wrote a definitive book, Earth Rotation, Theory and Observation (1987, co-authored with Ivan Mueller, Chair of the Department of Geodetic Science), that clearly laid out the theoretical foundations of Earth’s precession and nutation. His talent for bringing more arcane mathematics (from a student’s view) to a “digestible” level was evident again in his book, Geometry, Relativity, Geodesy (1993), jointly written with one of his students, Bernhard Hofmann-Wellenhof, with whom he also published an updated version of the classic, Physical Geodesy (2005).
Despite often shying away from offered high-level administrative positions in favor of pursuing his research, he nevertheless excelled in leadership as president of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG, 1979-1983), followed by the presidency of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG, 1991-1995), among many other distinguished institutional memberships and directorships. In recognition of these many achievements and contributions to science, OSU awarded Helmut Moritz an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1992. Science, though, was not his only passion. He loved classical music, often played the piano and organ, and was conversant in 14 languages. Of the many honors and awards bestowed upon him, one often unnoticed tribute stands out, in my opinion. A recently (1992) discovered asteroid was named after him: asteroid, 29250 Helmutmoritz (1992 SO17). I can think of no higher secular accolade (no pun intended).
And so, although we must now say goodbye to Helmut Moritz, his work will live on to the benefit of every student of geodesy; and, his namesake will orbit the sun every 4.621 years within the main belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, following Newton’s law of gravitation perfectly, the law that appears as the first equation in Physical Geodesy and serves as the foundation of the discipline.
–Christopher Jekeli, Professor Emeritus of Geodetic Science, The Ohio State University