James N. Hallock
Encyclopedia
James Nelson Hallock is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 physicist. His research and work for the US Government has been lengthy, from Gemini and Apollo missions, to the more recent Columbia Accident Investigation Board, or CAIB. He is the world's leading scientist in wake vortices
Wake turbulence
Wake turbulence is turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. This turbulence includes various components, the most important of which are wing vorticies and jetwash. Jetwash refers simply to the rapidly moving gases expelled from a jet engine; it is extremely turbulent,...

, and co-authored two patents and has over 150 papers.

Hallock was born in Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...

, and earned his bachelors degree in 1963, masters degree in 1969, and Ph.D in 1972 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

.

He Still works for the Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel. All U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and many local agencies also have...

 as a Senior Technical Expert, Air and Space Transportation Safety at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Hallock's career began as a graduate student, working for the MIT Instrumentation Lab (later renamed the Apollo Optics Group) in 1963. During this time he gathered information on Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

 landmarks to be used by guidance systems on the Apollo and Gemini
Project Gemini
Project Gemini was the second human spaceflight program of NASA, the civilian space agency of the United States government. Project Gemini was conducted between projects Mercury and Apollo, with ten manned flights occurring in 1965 and 1966....

 space missions. He continued his work with 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...

's Electronic Research Center until 1970.

In 1970 He left the Research Center to work at the Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation
The Department of Transportation is the most common name for a government agency in North America devoted to transportation. The largest is the United States Department of Transportation, which oversees interstate travel. All U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and many local agencies also have...

's Volpe
Volpe
Volpe means "fox" in Italian. As a surname, it may refer to:* Fiona Volpe, Bond villain in Thunderball* John A. Volpe , former Governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Secretary of Transportation** The John A...

 Center. Here he began his lifelong work on wake vortices. In 1986 he was promoted to Division Manager of the Aviation Safety Division, and held that post until 2006. At that time the Secretary of Transportation promoted him to Senior Scientist.

Most recently, in 2003, he was selected to sit on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (or CAIB). Here his expertise was used in determining the final reports and causes of that fateful disaster.

Jim resides in Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...

, with his wife Georgie and two cats. He has two sons, Alexander and Theodore.
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