Daniel Linehan was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, August 6, 1904, the second of five children of Louise (Fogg) and Daniel M. Linehan. His siblings were Louise M., Marjorie, Jerome, and Geraldine. Linehan received his bachelor's degree from Boston College in 1930, and his master's in physics in 1931. He was an instructor of physics at College of the Holy Cross from 1931-1933, where he also helped found the Holy Cross Outing Club. Linehan began his theological studies at Weston College in 1933, was ordained in 1936, and graduated in 1937. He obtained his second master's degree, in geology, from Harvard University in 1939, and pursued additional graduate studies there from 1940-1945. While studying at Harvard, he also taught physics at Weston College from 1941-1943.

In addition to his studies and teaching, Linehan began working in the seismological station at Weston College as the Observer in 1934. With Boston College’s acquisition of Weston Observatory in 1947, and the creation of the Department of Geophysics there, Linehan took on the additional role of department chair, a position he held until 1966. In 1950 he became the Director of the Observatory.

At the Observatory, Linehan oversaw the operation of the equipment for regional and international seismic networks, coordinated field operations performing contract seismic studies, and led seismic and geomagnetic research. He also joined international expeditions needing geophysical expertise. He performed seismic electric studies at Vatican City to explore the spaces below St. Peter’s Basilica in 1951; performed magnetic studies to determine the true Magnetic North Pole as part of the Dow Expedition in the summer of 1954; and served as the Consulting Geophysicist to the U.S. Navy Department expeditions to Antarctica between 1954-1958. He was the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Seismological Missions, which aimed to advance international scientific cooperation in order to better predict and prepare for large-scale earthquakes, and went on four missions reviewing seismology on other continents from 1961-1964. He lectured widely, both to professional organizations and to community groups interested in his travels.

Linehan served on the Massachusetts Governor’s Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (1966-1971), the Boston Geological Society (where he was President from 1947-1949), and the Seismological Society of America (where he was Chairman of the Eastern Section in 1953-1954). He was the Executive Secretary of the International Mission Radio Association from 1963-1975 and Chairman of the New England Chapter of The Explorers Club from 1972-1975. Linehan’s honors included the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Award (1958), the Boston Medal for Distinguished Achievement (1967), and the DeForest Audion Award (1970).

In Massachusetts, Linehan conducted retreats for both priests and the laity. On his polar expeditions, he conducted regular Masses aboard ship, and officiated the first Baptism and the first Mass at the South Pole in the Antarctic.

Linehan retired as a Boston College faculty member in the summer of 1971 and as director of Weston Observatory in 1972, becoming both professor and director emeritus in 1973.

Daniel Linehan died on September 27, 1987.

Sources:

Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.

Biographical note, Box 13, Folder 2, Weston Observatory Director's records: Daniel Linehan, SJ, BC.1987.054, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

"Noted Seismologist Initiates Lectures." The Heights XXXVIII, No. 1 (28 September 1956).

Seele, Michael. "Linehan papers chronicle the life of a geologist and explorer." Boston College Biweekly 8, No. 6 (19 November 1987).

The Weston Observatory began in 1928 when Georgetown University gave Weston College seismological instruments, which were installed in the basement of the Mansion building (likely Campion Hall). Henry M. Brock, SJ was named the first Director of what was initially called the Station. The Station began recording in 1930, and the first earthquake was put on record in January 1931.

The 1930s and 1940s were years of growth. The Station added T.H. Quigley, SJ, as the first Observer, a role taken over in 1934 by Daniel Linehan, SJ. The Directorship passed to George A. O’Donnell, SJ for the years 1935-1940 and Michael J. Ahern, SJ from 1940-1949. Between 1934-1949 station staff acquired additional equipment through donations, including from the College of the Holy Cross; gifts in honor of Ahern's 25th jubilee; Humble Oil and Refining Company; and Century Geophysical Corporation. The new equipment included portable seismography units that allowed the Station to establish field crews who worked on contracts for towns, departments of the Commonwealth, and private organizations to gather data in advance of construction projects.

In 1947 the Station became part of Boston College (BC) and took the name Weston Observatory. BC founded the Department of Geophysics, offered courses in geophysics and geology to students in the Graduate School, located the Department at the Observatory, and named Linehan as chair, a post he held until 1966. The BC programs originally worked out of the observatory space at Weston College, but by 1949 a dedicated building was completed. It included office and research space for staff of the Observatory, as well as the Geophysics Department. In 1948 Francis J. Donohoe, SJ, was appointed Assistant to the Director, and in 1949 Daniel Linehan took over the Directorship of the Observatory.

By the early 1960s, the Observatory had outgrown this space and was expanding its research capacity as well. Geomagnetic research, begun in the mid-1950s, resulted in a dedicated geomagnetic observatory, which worked extensively with the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory. In 1960 an addition was built on the main Observatory building, which housed a geological museum, offices, a seismic data analysis laboratory and the Catherine B. O’Connor Library, which was named for the wife of contractor Austin J. O’Connor, who built the addition as a gift to Boston College. In 1961 the Observatory installed equipment to become part of an international network of seismograph stations, the World Wide Standardized Seismic Network (WWSSN), overseen nationally by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 1962 Weston Observatory established the New England Seismic Network (NESN) to monitor regional earthquake activity with funding from the Advanced Research Projects Administration. The Observatory added a second building to the complex for additional teaching and research space in 1964.

In 1968, the Department of Geology merged with the Department of Geophysics, and James W. Skehan, SJ became chair. The Geology Department, however, did not join Geophysics at Weston Observatory until 1977.

In 1972, after nearly 40 years at the Observatory, Linehan retired and became Director Emeritus. James W Skehan, SJ, was named Director in 1973. The Observatory’s NESN stations had been cut back at the end of funding in 1967, but expanded again in 1975 with new funding from the Atomic Energy Commission (later the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and the U.S. Geological Survey, growing to 30 stations by the 1980s. Skehan created the Boston College Energy Research Center, which ran from 1975-1981, to study the intersection of energy and the environment. During these years, the New England Consortium on Environmental Protection was headquartered at the Weston Observatory. In the late 1980s, the seismology staff was involved in research related to the monitoring of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the Joint Verification Experiment.

By the 1990s, the technology for managing NESN regional seismic stations, all of which communicated with the Observatory by open phone line, was becoming outdated. In 1992 the Weston Observatory and Massachusetts Institute of Technology received a FEMA grant to upgrade to more sensitive seismic equipment and replace the open phone lines with computer logging of data. In 1993, John Ebel (Geology and Geophysics Department) replaced Skehan as Director of the Observatory. In the late 1990s, observatory staff began to explore the field of Geoscience Information Systems. A geographic information center was created at the Observatory and was used as a research tool to assist investigations in seismic hazard, geotechnical engineering, geology, and environmental research.

In the early 2000s, Weston Observatory focused its outreach efforts on lectures and programming to share its work with the community, and it created the Boston College Educational Seismology Project, bringing a seismometer to the classrooms of K-12 schools in the region and helping the students understand what they were recording.

In 2013 Ebel stepped down from the directorship to become the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department chair. At that time fellow faculty member Alan Kafka became Director.

Sources:

Frost, Greg. "Observatory Marks 75 Years of Watching Earth's Moves." Boston College Chronicle 14, No. 6 (17 November 2005).

Hancock, Emily. "BC researches possibility of earthquake." The Heights LXXIII, No. 26 (7 November 1992).

Hayward, Ed. "Ebel Hands Weston Observatory Baton to Kafka." Boston College Chronicle 22, No. 1 (5 September 2013).

Observatory history, Boston College website. https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/mcas/sites/weston-observatory/about/history/observatory-history--1950-2000.html

Weston Observatory history, Box 8, Folder 36, Weston Observatory Director's records: Daniel Linehan, SJ, BC.1987.054, John J. Burns Library, Boston College.