it became known, provided the first solid evidence that planet formation occurs outside of our solar system. In 1984 he was awarded the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal "for outstanding contributions to IRAS". In 1987 Gillett took a two-year sabbatical to be a visiting senior scientist in the Office of Space Science at NASA's headquarters in Washington, D.C. He contributed to the development of several infrared telescope projects, including SIRTF, later renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope; the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), a reflector telescope mounted inside a Boeing 747SP; and 2MASS, an astronomical survey of the whole sky. In 1994 Gillett was appointed the project scientist for the development of the International Gemini Observatory, a pair of optical/infrared telescopes on Mauna Kea in Hawai'i and Cerro Pachón in Chile that saw first light in 1999 and 2000 respectively. In August 1999 Gillett was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, he died on April 22, 2001, aged 64, at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle, Washington following a stem-cell transplant. He was survived by his wife, three children, and his mother. In 2002 the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i was officially named The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope. The wide main belt asteroid 74509 Gillett is named in his honor. References 1937 births 2001 deaths American astronomers People from Minot, North Dakota University of Minnesota alumni University of California, San Diego faculty