The passing of Professor George Veis
01/31/2022

It is with great sadness that we convey the passing of George Veis, scientist, teacher, and a good friend to all of us; truly one of the fathers of Space Geodesy.

George was born in Athens in 1929. In 1951 he graduated in Surveying Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). In 1955 he was the recipient of a Greek state fellowship for advanced studies in Paris at the Sorbonne and the Ecole Nationale desSciences Geographiques. He then spent some time at the Observatoire de Paris and the Bureau Gravimetrique International. Starting in 1957 he continued his postgraduate studies at the Ohio State University, where he was awarded with his PhD in 1958, after defending his famous dissertation on the "Geodetic Applications of Observations of the Moon, Artificial Satellites and Rockets".

George was one of the framers of the early Satellite Geodesy Program at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which itself was a fundamental element of the early NASA Space Geodesy Activity.

George joined the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), (later the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics) in 1959 at the beginning of satellite geodesy era and the deployment of the Baker Nunn Satellite Tracking Cameras for geodetic and other scientific research. Over two decades as principal scientific consultant at SAO, he helped guide activities as the satellite geodesy program evolved with the Baker Nunn Camera and the emergence of Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR). He worked with the engineers on the design of the SAO SLR systems and the retroreflectors on satellites.

While at SAO, George contributed the early concept and evolution of the Differential Orbit Improvement (DOI) Program, which became the main analysis tool for satellite tracking, geopotential estimation, station coordinate determination, and satellite drag research. He defined the fundamental reference system used for many years, which now forms the basis of modern models of earth rotation, precession, and nutation. He also initiated the SAO Star Catalogue project, which provided a uniform all-sky catalogue for precision camera observations, and was used for many years all over the world.

Keeping his connection with SAO, George returned to NTUA, where he was elected Professor of Surveying (renamed later Higher Geodesy and Cartography) to develop satellite geodesy in Greece.

In 1969 he established the tracking station at Dionysos, installed a Baker-Nunn camera there, and began developing a laser ranging system. He had the vision of a complete geophysical observatory with, of course, satellite tracking, a meteorological observatory, earth tide monitoring, strain gauges, etc. He also developed surveys based on Transit Doppler measurements and GPS when the equipment became available. As an early mobile SLR deployment, George transported the Dionysos laser system to the remote island of Othoni, north of Corfu, Greece, and used it in October of 1973 to measure the distance to an Italian target at Specchia, Cristi at the tip of the boot. This measurement enabled for the first time the accurate connection of the Greek geodetic network with main Europe (Balodimos D., Geodetic Connection between Greece and Italy, Anno xxxvi, Bollettino di Geodesia e scienze Affini, 1977).

Dionysos laser system deployed on the island of Othoni northeast of Corfu, Greece, in October of 1973 (D. Balodimos personal archive).

George's department at NTUA was a major source of young geodesists for the global community.

The Dionysos station contributed to the MERIT, MEDLAS, WEGENER and other programs. Between 1965 and 1984 George also organised the famous series of international symposia, in Lagonissi and Athens, on the "Use of Artificial Satellites for Geodesy and Geodynamics". The five volumes of the proceedings of these symposia document a great part of 20 years of geodetic history.

George's career as a science-administrator was also rich. As a member of the NTUA's senate and the Dean of the Faculty of Surveying Engineering, he suffered a short, but painful imprisonment by the military dictatorship in Greece, because of his proper academic comportment during students protest which caused the furious reaction of the regime. He was the Secretary General of the Hellenic Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics, its President from 1982 to 1990. He was President of the Board of the Athens National Observatory and the President of the Observatory's Scientific Council. He was the President of the Cadastre and Mapping Organization of Greece and the President of the National Consultative Council for Research. He also presided over several IAG/IUGG and COSPAR organizations. George retired from the NTUA in 1997. The ETH of Zurich honored him with an Honorary Doctor's degree.

George continued to be active in a key position as the President of the important Supreme Council for Personnel Selection, a state authority responsible for the selection of personnel for the public administration in Greece. George was awarded the Levallois Medal in 2003 in recognition of his distinguished service to the science of geodesy.

George Veis continued to be endlessly creative, engaging, seducing, elegant, modern and forever young scientist, who shared his ideas with enthusiasm, and helped everyone with whom he had contact. He witnessed the birth of space geodesy, its evolution from many meters to mm's, and continued to think about its future until his death. He had celebrated his 92nd birthday last September 8th, 2021.

George is survived by his wife Katerina, and children Konstandinos, Alexandros, Ino, Nico and Maria, and his grandchildren. His funeral is set for January 31, at noon.

May his memory be an abiding blessing.

George Veis during his last visit to the USA in 2014, while attending the ILRS Annapolis Workshop.