Joel Stebbins was an American astronomer who pioneered photoelectric photometry in astronomy. He graduated from the University of Nebraska with a Bachelor’s degree in astronomy in 1899. He then went on to acquire his PhD from the Lick Observatory where he worked.

He became an instructor of astronomy at the University of Illinois and director of the University of Illinois Observatory from 1903 to 1922. During this time he performed innovative work with the selenium cell and received the Draper Medal of the National Academy, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1950, and among other honors.

In 1922 he became director of the Washburn Observatory at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he remained until 1948. Stebbins developed photoelectric photometry to the point where it succeeded photography as the photometric standard. After 1948, Stebbins actively continued his research at Lick Observatory until his final retirement in 1958.

Brother Thurlow was a pioneer in early flight attempts. He is most known for his around-the-world flight with Howard Hughes, in which he served as co-pilot and navigator. Thurlow would pass away in 1944 due to a plane accident.

Edward Curtis Wells was senior vice president and served on the board of directors of Boeing Company. He helped to design the Boeing 747 and the B-17 Flying Fortress. He was known as the “elder statesman of aviation.”

Wells joined Boeing Company’s engineering staff in 1931 and was named Boeing’s chief engineer in 1943. He received the following honors: the Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1980), the Fawcett Aviation Award (1944), and the Lawrence Sperry Award from the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences (1942). Ed Wells was a member of the Willamette University Board of Trustees from 1955 until his death in 1986.