In July 2019, Charles W. Misner, Ph.D., and Susanne E. Misner established the Weber Endowment for Gravitational Physics to support the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences’ physics and/or astronomy activities related to gravitational waves. The endowment serves as a permanent memorial to Professor Joseph Weber and the University of Maryland’s roles in the development of gravitational wave detection and theory.
Joseph Weber and Charles Misner worked together when Misner was a graduate student, and Misner later joined Weber to work at UMD in 1963. As colleagues from 1963 until Weber’s passing in 2000, the two were in continual contact concerning gravitational waves. Charles and Susanne are delighted to see Weber widely acknowledged as the father of gravitational wave astronomy.