Dorothy Nickerson

Dorothy Nickerson
Dorothy Nickerson (undated)
Born	(1900-08-05)August 5, 1900
Died	April 25, 1985(1985-04-25)(aged 84)
Citizenship	American
Education	Boston University
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University
Known for	Munsell Soil Color Chart, Nickerson Color Fan (color chart)
Awards	Godlove Award, IESNA Gold Medal
Scientific career
Institutions	Munsell Color Company,USDA

Dorothy Nickerson(August 5, 1900 – April 25, 1985) was an Americancolor scientistandtechnologistwho made important contributions in the fields of colorquality control,technical use ofcolorimetry,the relationship between color stimuli andcolor perceptions,standardization of light sources, color tolerance specification, and others.

Background

Dorothy Nickerson was born on August 5, 1900, and raised inBoston.In 1919, she attendedBoston Universityand in 1923Johns Hopkins University.She continued her education at summer courses and university extensions atHarvard University,George Washington University,and the Graduate School of theU.S. Department of Agriculture.Her special interest was the science of color, then in significant development.

Career

Nickerson measuring the color of a cotton sheet (1938)

In 1921, Nickerson joined theMunsell Color Companyas a laboratory assistant and secretary to A.E.O. Munsell, who had taken over the firm from his father in 1918. In 1922, the firm moved toNew York Cityand in 1923 toBaltimore.

In 1927, Nickerson was offered a position at theUnited States Department of Agriculture(USDA), where she remained until retiring in 1964. When she joined, color science and technology had no international standards as they came into industrial use. Nickerson prodded instrumental in developing the technology and use in agricultural and industrial settings.

Nickerson was a trustee of the Munsell Color Foundation since 1942, was its president from 1973 to 1975, and assisted in the transfer of the foundation to theRochester Institute of Technologyin 1983 where it helped fund the then new Munsell Color Science Laboratory.

Color quality control of agricultural product

In the late 1920s Nickerson worked on usage of disk color mixture to define the color quality ofcottonand other agricultural products and the conversion of disk mixture data into theCIE colorimetric system of 1931.

Standardization of light sources for color assessment and color rendering

In the late 1930s, a major occupation was the development of definedlight sourcesfor visual assessment of color quality. Later, she was also active in the development and promotion of standard methods for the definition of color rendering of lights.

Color tolerance specification

In 1936 Nickerson published the firstcolor differenceformula for industrial use, based on the addition of increments of Munsellhue,chroma,andlightnessscale values. In 1943, together with Newhall, she published realistic representations of a three-dimensional perceptually approximately uniform optimal objectcolor solid.In 1944, together with her assistant K. F. Stultz, she published a colorimetric color difference formula,known as the Adams–Nickerson–Stultz formula, that in modified form eventually became theCIE 1976 L*,a*,b* (CIELAB)color space and difference formula.

Munsell color system and its colorimetric definition

In 1940, a technical committee of theOptical Society of America(OSA) began a study of theMunsell color systemand its definition in the CIE colorimetric system. Nickerson was an important participant in this effort. The final report of the committee was authored by S.M. Newhall, Nickerson, andDeane B. Juddand its result is known as the "Munsell Renotations," the specification of the aim colors of the current system. Nickerson prepared plots of the Munsell colors in the CIEchromaticitydiagram that remain in publication today.

Color charts

In the mid-1940s, Nickerson was active in methods for assessing the color ofsoils,an effort that found its expression in the Munsell Soil Color Chart, still in use today. In 1957, Munsell issued the Nickerson Color Fan, acolor chartfor horticultural purposes.Working with Judd, the chair of the OSA committee that developed theOSA Uniform Color Scales,Nickerson as a member of the committee was also a contributor to that effort for over 25 years and wrote a detailed history of the development of the system.

Industry associations

Nickerson was a member of several color-related national and international associations, including the Optical Society of America (OSA), the US National Committee to the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), the Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC), the International Colour Association (AIC), and theIlluminating Engineering Society of North America(IESNA).

Personal life and death

Dorothy Nickerson died age 84 on April 25, 1985.

Awards and recognition

• ISCC: In 1931 Nickerson became the first individual member of the ISCC and was a lifelong member. In 1961 she received the Godlove Award. In 1983 the eponymous Nickerson Service Award was created.
• OSA: In 1959 Nickerson joined five other women,Christine Ladd-Franklin,Charlotte Moore Sitterly,Gertrude Rand,Louise L Sloan,andMary E Wargaas part of the first class of fellows of the OSA.
• IESNA: In 1970 Nickerson received the Gold Medal of the IESNA.
• AIC: In 1975 Nickerson received the first Judd Award of the AIC.

Works

Nickerson was the author and co-author of some 150 papers and publications, including Color measurement and its application to the grading of agricultural products, USDA Miscell.Publications 580, 1946, 62 p.

Shortly before her death, Nickerson wrote an appreciation of her mentor,Alexander Ector Orr Munsell.

External links

• Media related toDorothy Nickersonat Wikimedia Commons
• TheInter-Society Color Council recordsArchived2015-01-03 at theWayback MachineatHagley Museum and Librarycontain the Dorothy Nickerson papers including correspondence; publications and reports; and records from the Munsell Color Foundation, Illuminating Engineering Society, and Optical Society of America.
• Works by or about Dorothy Nickersonat theInternet Archive