Charles Hagar
M.A. Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, 1960.
At SF State 1959-2004. Emeritus 1994-2013.
Since its opening in 1973, the SFSU Planetarium has been in continuous operation for a wide range of educational and outreach activities. Over its more than 40 year history, it has served an estimated 40,000 SFSU students, 50,000 school children, and more than 10,000 members of the public. Numerous SF State graduate and undergraduate students have gained experience teaching and communicating about science in this space. Many are now educators in science museums, planetariums, universities, community colleges and high schools around the Bay Area and beyond.
Charles F. Hagar was a professor in Department of Physics and Astronomy at SF State from 1959 to 1994, and continued to teach at SF State for ten years after his retirement. He designed all the astronomy-related facilities in Thornton Hall, including the planetarium and the observatory. The planetarium was named for Professor Hagar upon his retirement.
The Charles F. Hagar planetarium dome is 26.5 ft (8.1 meters) in diameter, takes up two floors in Thornton Hall, and seats 45 visitors in three concentric circles. The planetarium houses a Spitz Space systems 512 projector that displays 1,354 stars on the dome, along with the Sun, Moon, and planets. The Spitz, which was state-of-the-art at the time it was installed, also projects the celestial equator, the ecliptic, the meridian, and several constellation figures.
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Charles Hagar Obituary
Charles Frederick Hagar Resident of Brentwood, CA and Former Burlingame, CA Charles, beloved father, professor, and servant of Jesus Christ, went home to be with his Savior on April 28, 2013, at the age of 82. He was born on August 7, 1930 in L.A., CA. He graduated from Hollywood High in 1949, from UCLA with a B.A. in Astronomy in 1954, and from UC Berkeley with a M.A. in Astronomy in 1960. He moved to the Bay Area in 1957. He taught at the Griffith Observatory from 1946-1957, the Morrison Planetarium from 1957-1975, SFSU from 1960-2004, and Los Medanos College from 2004-2012. He helped design the Planetarium at SFSU, and in honor of his life's work, the Planetarium was named the Charles F. Hagar Planetarium. In 2003 he moved to Brentwood, CA. While there he was a member of Heritage Baptist Church in Antioch where he sang in the choir, helped in the academy, and was an advisor to the pastoral staff. He taught Bible study in his community and was a mentor to younger generations. He will be greatly missed by many. He is survived by his adopted daughter, Melanie Meyer, and her husband John Meyer. In his honor a memorial service will be on June 9th at 1pm, at Heritage Baptist Church in Antioch, CA.