Del Philpott
Encyclopedia
Delbert E. Philpott was an American soldier and scientist.

Born in Omro
Omro, Wisconsin
Omro is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,177 at the 2000 census. The city is located along the Fox River, approximately 10 miles west of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.-1853 description:OMRO, P...

, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, Philpott served in the Fighting 69th Infantry Division in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and was one of three Americans in the iconic link-up photo by Allan Jackson of American troops shaking hands with Russian soldiers at the Elbe River in April 1945. Philpott was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart Medals for his service.

After the war, Philpott completed his Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...

 in 1948 and a Master's Degree in 1949. At the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago he established the first electron microscope facility, before moving to the Marine Biological Lab and Institute for Muscle Research in Woods Hole, MA in 1952, where he was Head of Electron Microscopy, directing research projects under Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Albert Szent-Györgyi
Albert Szent-Györgyi de Nagyrápolt was a Hungarian physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1937. He is credited with discovering vitamin C and the components and reactions of the citric acid cycle...

 in the winter and for the Marine Biological Lab at Woods Hole during the summer.

Philpott was awarded his PhD in cytology in 1963 from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

, and moved to the University of Colorado
University of Colorado at Boulder
The University of Colorado Boulder is a public research university located in Boulder, Colorado...

 as Professor of Biochemistry until 1966, when he became Head of the Department of Electron Microscopy and Co-Director of the Institute for Biomedical Research at Mercy Hospital
Mercy Hospital
-Australia:* Werribee Mercy Hospital - Werribee, Victoria* Mercy Hospital for Women, Melbourne - Heidelberg, Victoria* Mercy Hospital, Western Australia - Mount Lawley, Western Australia-New Zealand:* Mercy Hospital - Auckland...

 in Denver.

He joined NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 as the head of the Ultrastructure Laboratory at the Moffett Field NASA Ames Research Center, inspecting lunar soil
Lunar soil
Lunar soil is the fine fraction of the regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil...

 for any evidence of life. Experiments designed by Philpott were flown on both American and Russian spacecraft, including Apollo 17
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the...

, Cosmos 736 and Cosmos 936. Philpott retired from NASA in 1990, but continued working under contract with the Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

 Company at NASA Ames. Philpott authored over 230 scientific papers and wrote articles for several books and magazines in his scientific career.

Philpott was one of ten veterans chosen as guests at the Russian government's 60th Anniversary Celebration of the end of World War II, seated at the table with President Putin and President Bush. He and his wife also co-edited the book "Hands Across The Elbe", stories by American and Russian veterans about the link up in April 1945.

External links

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