Charlene Heisler (left) in a picture taken in June 1998 with her Ph.D. student Lisa Kewley.
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Charlene Heisler (left) in a picture taken in June 1998 with her Ph.D. student Lisa Kewley. |
Charlene Heisler, a Canadian astronomer working at Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatory, passed away on October 28 in Australia due to complications from her lung transplant operation. Charlene graduated from the University of Calgary with B.Sc. degrees in applied mathematics and physics in 1985. She then went on to graduate work in astronomy at Yale, from which she obtained her Ph.D. degree in 1989. She later held postdoctoral positions at York University and the Anglo- Australian Observatory before moving to the Australian National University and Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatory in 1996. Although she frequently came back to Canada to visit her family in Calgary, Charlene and her husband, Doug Campbell, greatly enjoyed living in Australia. She accomplished a great deal of excellent work on active galactic nuclei and remained active until the last moments before her untimely death. |
By late last year, Charlene's lung function had decreased to about 20% and she had to be hospitalized in December. The only long term solution was a lung transplant. She underwent a double lung transplant on May 11 in Sydney, which went smoothly. She told me that she had not felt so good in a long time. In July, she suffered two episodes of rejection. She last wrote me on October 11 and expressed hope that she would be back to full recovery soon. In my reply I said that I hoped to visit her in Australia next year. Unfortunately it is not to be.
Although Charlene had known about her cystic fibrosis condition since she was 14, she did not talk openly about it. It is remarkable that over all these years she maintained high spirits and a positive outlook in life. Her cheerfulness and enthusiasm were an inspiration to everyone around her. In addition to being a good scientist, she was kind, caring, and unselfish in her willingness to help everyone. All of her colleagues and friends at Calgary are greatly saddened by her sudden death. As I told Gene Couch, her teacher and former research supervisor in the mathematics department, students like Charlene are the reason that we enjoy teaching. She was dedicated, highly motivated, and eager to learn. It is most unfair that her brilliant career was cut short in this way. She will forever be in our memory.
 HIA
 Ed Kennedy
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Cassiopeia -- 1999-DS |