Klaus Keil

Klaus Keil
Dr. Klaus Keil (b. 1934), research scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, shown at the Center's electron microprobe with a sample of meteorite.
Born	(1934-11-15)November 15, 1934 Hamburg, Germany
Died	February 25, 2022(2022-02-25) (aged 87)
Awards	Leonard Medal J. Lawrence Smith Medal
Scientific career
Fields	Meteoritics
Institutions	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology University of New Mexico Institute of Meteoritics

Klaus Keil (November 15, 1934 – February 25, 2022) was a professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.^[1] He was the former Director of the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. He was also the former director of the University of New Mexico Institute of Meteoritics. Klaus pioneered the use of the electron microprobe to study meteorite samples. He was one of the co-inventors of the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer.^[2]

In 1988, Klaus won the Leonard Medal, which is awarded by the Meteoritical Society. In 2006, he won the J. Lawrence Smith Medal, which is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences. These awards are for his pioneering quantitative studies of minerals in meteorites and important contributions to understanding the nature, origin, and evolution of their parent bodies.^[3]

Asteroid 5054 Keil^[4] and the mineral keilite^[5] are named after Klaus.

Klaus is the father of professional tennis players Mark Keil^[6] and Kathrin Keil.^[7]

• Glossary of meteoritics