Tiberiu Oproiu

Romania

1939-2020

Obituary:

On May 22nd 2020 passed away our dear and esteemed colleague, Senior Researcher Dr. Tiberiu Oproiu, from the Astronomical Observatory of Cluj-Napoca - Astronomical Institute of the Romanian Academy.

He turned 80 on September 22nd 2019 and for over 50 years, his professional competence, generosity and dedication have inspired and shaped many generations of students, teachers, researchers and astronomers. After 1990 he was the Ph.D. advisor of six researchers from the Astronomical Institute, who obtained their doctoral degrees in Astronomy.

Dr. Oproiu pioneered optical observations on artificial satellites of the Earth, he developed computer programs for processing observational data and studied the dynamics of artificial satellites and Near-Earth Objects under various perturbations. In addition, he worked on space dynamics problems, navigation with solar sails, as well as several theoretical topics from Celestial Mechanics. Over the years, Dr. Oproiu collaborated with many researchers and he got involved in a number of interdisciplinary projects; one such example is revealed by his interest in Archaeoastronomy, where he focused on the Dacian sanctuaries from Sarmizegetusa Regia, Romania.

From 1990 until his retirement in 2013, Dr. Oproiu was the Head of the Research Group of the Astronomical Observatory from Cluj-Napoca. In this capacity he cultivated a stress-free atmosphere based on mutual respect, support, collaboration and flexibility, while fostering a professional and productive environment, conducive to scientific research.

The memory of his bright personality will always be in our thoughts.
A more detailed presentation of Dr Tiberiu Oproiu’s work and personality can be found in the Romanian Astronomical Journal article http://www.astro.ro/~roaj/29_2/09-apop_TO80_1920.pdf.