Jim Scala: Professional Amateur Astronomer

Lou Epstein, author of the best selling Relativity Visualized, introduces me as "the only professional amateur astronomer he knows".  Do my astronomical activities  confirm Lou's introduction?

I've  been an amateur astronomer since age six and have read Sky and Telescope since 1949.  I am past President of The Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society and a director emeritus of The Astronomical Society of The Pacific.

Jim Scala: Retired Nutritionist & Author

The La Scala observatory picture proves that I am 75.  I am a nutritional biochemist by education,  an author  and an amateur astronomer by choice.  During my career I was privileged to be involved with projects that  extended human frontiers,  They included the Apollo program, three Mt. Everest expeditions, serving on the Sports Medicine Council of the US Olympic Ski Team for two Olympic games and aviation's final frontier, the Voyager Flight among others.  I was also invited to be on the advisory board of Walt Disney's EPCOT center; being able to bring my children to Walt Disney World; then introducing them to Goofy, Donald Duck, Mickey and Minnie Mouse made me a hero.

I received my B.A. from Columbia University as  Korean Veteran, a Ph.D. from Cornell University as a US Public Health Service fellow, and did Post-Doctoral Studies at Harvard and the University of Indiana.  In 2000, I proudly received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Hofstra University. 

I authored or co-authored over 50 research papers on aspects of nutrition and biochemistry and taught those subjects at several universities, including UC Berkeley and  Georgetown Medical School.

Nancy Scala: Artist

Nancy is an accomplished watercolor artist; her paintings hang in some very important Bay Area homes.  Her art reveals her love of nature; especially through the flowers and birds she captures with her brush.  Nancy studied mathematics in college and worked briefly as an actuary.  We met while I was home on Christmas leave from the Air force in 1955 and were married in 1957 after my first year in college.  We have four  children, Jim, Greg, Nancy and Kim and six grandchildren, Julianna, Kyra and  John Scala, Blaine Austin and Mason Wampler. Julianna is a pharmacology grad student at USC and Mason is six months old.

Nancy and I once owned and sailed a  Ketch (53' LOA) out of San Francisco Bay, before we decided it was time to step ashore.  Nancy is an excellent sailor and gourmet cook whether it's at home in her bright kitchen or in a sailboat galley.