Rob's work as a scientist has always been intimately linked to his role as a teacher and mentor. Many generations of solar physicists and astrophysicists, as well as other former students, still have Rob's lectures on radiative transfer and rigorous lessons on LaTeX fresh in their minds. For years, Rob's lecture notes have been on his website, and they have been used by many students outside Utrecht as an essential astrophysics compendium. After several decades of polishing, it is planned that this material will be published as a book.
Rob gave lectures all over the world, and personally organised many international summer schools and networking activities to bring together young scientists from all over the world. Many of them now have successful careers in solar physics or adjacent fields. Therefore it is fair to conclude that there exists a clear "school of Rob Rutten", the legacy of which lives on both on his website (https://robrutten.nl/) and among his many scientific friends.
After the sudden closure of his Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht, Rob (now already officially emeritus), started the institute 'Lingezicht Astrophysics' at an idyllic location in Deil, which also happened to be where he lived. Over the past decade, Rob was perhaps more scientifically productive than ever before, keeping Dutch solar physics at a high level.
For decades, Rob was a social hub within the Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht, within Dutch astronomy (he was always present at every NAC conference, and gave lots of public talks), and as an essential linking pin within European and international solar physics networks. Last April, many colleagues and friends from all over the world gathered on Zoom to join Rob in celebrating his 80th birthday. As always, Rob took the lead, making sure everyone got to speak. Of course, Rob also spoke enthusiastically about his scientific and travel plans.
As well as being an eminent solar physicist, an inspiring lecturer, an essential network organizer and an avid popularizer, Rob Rutten was also an avid kayaker, hiker, eclipse hunter, flautist and documentary photographer of his colleagues. Moreover, he was a humble and extremely fine human being.
In memoriam Rob Rutten
By Frans Snik, Leiden Observatory
On 28 September 2022, astrophysicist Rob Rutten died at the age of 80.
Rob was educated at the Sterrekundig Instituut Utrecht as a solar physicist, in the tradition of Marcel Minnaert and Kees de Jager. His entire career there he focused on understanding the solar spectrum and applying the information in different spectral lines to study processes of the sun in all observable layers. Together with Rob Hammerschlag, Rob Rutten was the driving force behind the Dutch Open Telescope on La Palma, which was able to provide sharp images of the sun in different filters to observe dynamic phenomena in three spatial dimensions and in time. Thanks in part to Rob's work, this is now a standard observing technique on the big new solar telescopes. Rob also served as a guest professor in Oslo.
