Robert Harry Koch, 1929-2010 - Journal of Astronomy and Space ...

Obituary 

Robert Harry Koch, 1929-2010 

Robert (Bob) Harry 

Koch, a world-wide 

eminent astronomer, 

died of a brain tumor 

at his home in Ardmore, 

Pennsylvania on October 

11, 2010. With him we 

have lost one of the most 

outstanding astronomers 

in the field of close binary 

stars. 

Bob Koch was born in York, Pennsylvania on December 

19, 1929, the son of Harry and Veronica Koch. He graduated 

from York Catholic High School in 1947 and received 

a BSc in mathematics at University of Pennsylvania (U. 

Penn) in 1951. After serving for two years in the Army 

Quartermaster Corps until 1953, he earned a MA in astronomy 

at U. Penn in 1955 and a MSc in astronomy from 

University of Arizona in 1957. He returned to U. Penn for 

his PhD, which was awarded to him in 1959 under the supervision 

of Frank Bradshaw Wood (1915-1997). In 1959 

he married Joanne Underwood. 

Bob Koch began his teaching career as an instructor at 

Amherst and Mt. Holyoke Colleges (1959-1960). By 1960, 

he was an assistant professor at Amherst, and held that 

position for five years (1960-1965). He was then an associate 

professor, first at the University of Massachusetts 

(1965-1966), and then at the University of New Mexico 

(1966-1967), before joining the faculty at U. Penn in 1967. 

He spent the next 29 years from 1967 to 1996 at U. Penn. 

During the U. Penn era he became full professor in 1969, 

the chairman of U. Penn’s department of astronomy 

(1969-1973), undergraduate chairman of the department 

of astronomy and astrophysics (1984-1987), president 

of IAU Commission 42 (Close Binary Stars, 1988-1992), 

director of the Flower and Cook Observatory, and chairman 

of the graduate group in astronomy and astrophysics 

(1989-1994) and served on numerous committees, including 

the Natural Science Board, the Senate Executive 

Committee, the University Safety Committee and many 

others. When he retired in 1996, the title Professor Emeritus 

from U. Penn was accorded to him. 

413 

During more than 50 years of research into what he 

called "the most romantic science", Bob Koch published 

about 200 scientific papers, together with colleagues, on 

close binary stars. He was actively engaged in research 

projects until right before his brief illness. His first paper 

from ADS search appeared in 1956 (Times of minima of 

selected eclipsing variables, AJ, 61, 47) and the final one 

is in this 2010 issue of JASS (SW Lynsis- Advances and 

Questions, JASS, 27, 263). In his published papers, nearly 

all kinds of binaries (W UMa-, β Lyr-, Algol-, W Ser-types, 

novae, white dwarfs, extra-galactic binaries, black hole 

candidate Cyg X-1, and so on.) were explored, based on 

the photometric, spectroscopic, and polarimetric observations 

of them ranging from the visible to far UV bandpasses. 

He really enjoyed finding and interpreting diverse 

phenomena occurring in the evolutionary process of 

close binary stars, such as mass loss, stellar winds, mass 

exchange, accretion disk, apsidal motion, light-time effect, 

star spot, stellar rotation, period-change and so on. 

Among the great outcomes of his exploration are two 

catalogues (Koch, R. H., Plavec, M. & Wood, F. B. 1970, 'A 

catalogue of graded photometric studies of close binaries' 

(Philadelphia: U. Penn Printing Office); Wood, F. B., Oliver, 

J. P. & Koch, R. H. 1980, 'A finding list for observers of 

interacting binary stars' (Philadelphia: U. Penn Printing 

Office)) which provide useful information to many investigators 

who study close binary stars. After his retirement 

he wrote a privately published history of his department, 

'Observational Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania 

1751 to 2007'. 1 

As a scientist Bob Koch was a very careful, thoughtful, 

insightful and innovative researcher with an inquisitive 

and open mind. He was doing research until two days before 

his tumor surgery. His final e-mail dated on August 

23 (Mon) 2010, communicated with one of us (CHK) to 

the effect that on August 25 he would be having surgery 

for a malignant brain tumor and that he hoped to be able 

to continue work on a current paper in about a week. 

Unfortunately, he did not recover well from the operation 

1 http://www.gravic.com/about/RHK-Observational-Astronomy-UP/ 

Observational%20Astronomy%20at%20UP%201751%20-%202007. 

pdf#page=4

and died peacefully at home 7 weeks later. As a teacher he 

had a special ability to explain clearly matters which are 

difficult and complicated to understand. His many students 

were amazed at the breadth as well as the depth 

of his knowledge. As a man he was a real gentleman with 

kindness, trust, and warm-hearted mind. He did not limit 

his life only to astronomy. He was a gardener and a musician, 

learning to play the mandolin when he was 77 year 

old. In addition, he and his wife Joanne actively pursued 

their love of traveling and bird watching, visiting nearly 

30 countries. 

Bob Koch had a very special relationship with two 

Korean astronomers who were engaged in close binary 

researches. Kyong Chol Chou (1929-2010), who died of a 

sudden heart attack on March 6, 2010, studied at U. Penn 

with Bob Koch. Il-Seong Nha, now the Professor Emeritus 

of Yonsei University, did his PhD thesis under the supervision 

of Bob Koch. These two astronomers from U. Penn 

pioneered the field of binary star research in Korea and 

educated many students (Woo-Baik Lee, Kyu-Dong Oh, 

Jang Hae Jeong, Yong Sam Lee, Young-Woon Kang, Chun- 

Hwey Kim, Wonyong Han, Ho-Il Kim and many others 

414 

whose names are abridged with their consents). He and 

Joanne visited Korea many times in the last twenty years 

since 1987 for the cooperative research projects and attended 

some meetings, during which they enjoyed Korean 

culture. Owing to his deep relationship with Korean 

astronomers, he willingly agreed to become an editor of 

the editorial board of this journal JASS (2010-2011) even 

at his age of 80, which became the final formal service to 

his long astronomical activities. 

Bob Koch is survived by his wife Joanne, two sons 

(Thomas and James (Dana)), two daughters (Elizabeth 

Koch (Murray) and Patricia Budlong (Steven)), a brother, 

a sister, seven grandchildren, lots of colleagues, friends, 

and associates, all of whom will miss and remember him 

with deep affection and much admiration. 

Chun-Hwey Kim 

Chungbuk National University, Korea 

Young Woon Kang 

Sejong University, Korea

Robert Harry Koch, 1929-2010 - Journal of Astronomy and Space ...

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