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(1907–1974, in office 1937–1974)
Born near Portadown, County Armagh, to parents Richard and Susan Lindsay, Dr Eric Lindsay OBE was educated at the King’s Hospital School in Dublin before attending Queen’s University, Belfast (for his B.Sc. and M.Sc.). He went on to Harvard University to obtain his PhD in 1934.
As Director of Armagh Observatory, Lindsay wanted to find a novel and exciting way to bring the understanding of the universe to ordinary people. Beginning his campaign during the Second World War, it was not until the 1960s that he received the support of the government and local council to finally realise his dream: the Armagh Planetarium was completed in 1968. He also spearheaded the Armagh-Dunsink-Harvard Telescope project in South Africa, pioneering the idea of building telescopes in remote locations with good weather as part of an international scientific collaboration. His main scientific work was on massive and variable stars stars, and stellar clusters, particularly in the Magellanic Clouds.
