Ormond Stone - McCormick Observatory

McCormick Observatory

In 1882, Stone was offered the position of director at the brand new observatory being built at the University of Virginia, and was accompanied from Cincinnati by John Jones and Frank P. Leavenworth. Stone oversaw the final stages of construction on the Observatory, which was completed for use in 1885, but began astronomical work almost immediately upon his arrival in Charlottesville. Stone's work focused largely on observing nebulae, southern variables and double stars.

As director, Stone's responsibilities included fundraising, which he detested and did very poorly. Though the Observatory was always short of funds, he used funds donated by William Henry Vanderbilt to establish three fellowships, $350 for a year, to pay for assistants at the observatory. The list of Vanderbilt Fellows that worked under Stone was an impressive one and included astronomers, university presidents, professors and professionals in various fields, including: Francis P. Leavenworth, Director of Haverford Observatory, Professor of Astronomy at the University of Minnesota; Harry Y. Benedict, Tenth President of the University of Texas at Austin; Edgar Odell Lovett, first President of Rice Institute (now Rice University); Heber Doust Curtis, director of Lick Observatory and Allegheny Observatory; James Park McCallie, founder of the McCallie School; George F. Paddock, Assistant Astronomer at Lick Observatory; Charles P. Olivier, Director of Flower and Cook Observatory and Chair of the Astronomy Department, University of Pennsylvania; Herbert R. Morgan, astronomer at the United States Naval Observatory; and Ralph Elmer Wilson, astronomer at Dudley Observatory and Mount Wilson Observatory.

Stone remained at the McCormick Observatory until 1912. In his time there, he taught various astronomy courses for the University, founded the Annals of Mathematics in 1884, funded the publication with his own money, and edited the journal until 1899 (after which he served on the editorial board), founded the Philosophical Society at UVA and spent much of the final ten years of his directorship in the cause for secondary education in Virginia. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Member: 1875; Fellow: 1876; Chair, Committee on Standard Time: 1880; Member of Committee on Stellar Magnitudes: 1880; Vice-President, Astronomy and Mathematics: 1887; Vice-President of Section A: Astrometry, of Department 11: Astronomy: 1888; Chair: 1901 Councilor, Section A, Mathematics and Astronomy: 1902-1905; Sectional Committee, Section A: 1905-1907; Emeritus Life Member: 1927), the American Astronomical and Astrophysical Society, now known as the American Astronomical Society (Councilor 1899-1909), and the American Mathematical Society (Councilor 1897), among many other academic societies. He served on the Board of Visitors (as Secretary) for the United States Naval Observatory from 1901 to 1903, served on the first Advisory Committee on Mathematics for the Carnegie Institution of Washington starting in 1902, and was a trustee of Harrisonburg Normal College (now James Madison University). He also maintained contacts with people of influence across the country, including his brother Melville E. Stone, the founder of the Chicago Daily News, who became well known as the General Manager of Associated Press.