Question: What Northeast Texas banker’s estate funded the establishment of a prominent astronomical observatory in 1932?
Answer: William Johnson McDonald. After his death in 1926, his family contested his will, which transferred the bulk of his estate to the University of Texas to establish an astronomical observatory. McDonald’s will was upheld, and in 1932, UT agreed to a 30-year partnership with the University of Chicago to operate the observatory. Located on Mount Locke in the Davis Mountains, McDonald Observatory opened in 1939. At the time, its 82-inch Otto Struve telescope was the second largest in the world.
