David Rank

David Herr Rank (January 2, 1907 – January 17, 1981) was an American spectroscopist.

Diagram of a RKE eyepiece developed by Rank

Rank was born in Annville, Pennsylvania and attended Lebanon Valley College in his hometown.^[1] He pursued graduate study at Pennsylvania State University beginning in 1930 and joined the faculty in 1935.^[2] Rank was appointed the Evan Pugh Professor in Physics in 1961.^[3] He retired in 1972 and died at Centre County Community Hospital in State College, Pennsylvania, on January 17, 1981, aged 74.^[2]

He was a Fellow of The Optical Society and APS, and he received the Frederic Ives Medal in 1969.^[4]