Klaus Keil is a professor at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. He is the former Director of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. He is also the former director of the University of New Mexico Institute of Meteoritics. Klaus pioneered the use of the electron microprobe

Electron microprobe

An electron microprobe , also known as an electron probe microanalyzer or electron micro probe analyzer , is an analytical tool used to non-destructively determine the chemical composition of small volumes of solid materials...

 to study meteorite

Meteorite

A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...

 samples. He is one of the co-inventors of the energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometer http://www.sciencemag.org/content/159/3814/528.abstract

In 1988, Klaus won the Leonard Medal

Leonard Medal

The Leonard Medal honors outstanding contributions to the science of meteoritics and closely allied fields. It is awarded by the Meteoritical Society. It was established in 1962 to honor the first President of the Society, Frederick C. Leonard....

, which is awarded by the Meteoritical Society

Meteoritical Society

The Meteoritical Society is a non-profit scholarly organization founded in 1933 to promote research and education in planetary science with emphasis on studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of the origin and history of the solar system.The...

. In 2006, Klaus won the J. Lawrence Smith Medal

J. Lawrence Smith Medal

J. Lawrence Smith Medal is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences for investigations of meteoric bodies. The medal is in honor of its namesake, J. Lawrence Smith.-Further reading:* Willson, Lee Anne. Presented April 2006....

, which is awarded by the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

. These awards are for Klaus' pioneering quantitative studies of minerals in meteorites and important contributions to understanding the nature, origin, and evolution of their parent bodies. http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/01182006?OpenDocument

Asteroid

Asteroid

Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...

 5054 Keil

5054 Keil

5054 Keil is a main-belt asteroid discovered on January 12, 1986 by E. Bowell at Flagstaff.-External links:*...

 http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=5054 and the mineral keilite

Keilite

Keilite is an iron-magnesium sulfide mineral ) that is found in enstatite chondrites. Keilite is the iron-dominant analog of niningerite. Keilite is named after Klaus Keil....

 http://webmineral.com/data/Keilite.shtml are named after Klaus.

Klaus is the father of professional tennis players Mark Keil

Mark Keil

Mark Keil is a former professional tennis player from the United States and now tennis coach who won 5 ATP World Tour doubles tournaments and was runner up at 8 more.-Early life and college:...

 http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/?playernumber=K172 and Kathrin Keil http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/page/Player/Info/0,,12781~3959,00.html.