Charles F. Richter: A personal tribute

Abstract

With the death of Charles Richter in 1985, the seismological community lost a renowned colleague, and many of us lost a close friend and advisor. Charles was born on a farm in Ohio in 1900, received his A.B. from Stanford in 1920, and his Ph.D. from Caltech in 1928. Virtually his entire professional career was spent at the Seismological Laboratory in Pasadena, first as an employee of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and later as a Caltech faculty member. Following his retirement from Caltech in 1970, he was active for several years in the consulting firm of Lindvall, Richter, and Associates. His wife, Lillian, died in 1972, and they had no children. Richter served as President of the Seismological Society of America from 1959 to 1960 and was the second recipient of its medal in 1977.