Ricard, Jerome S., 1850-1930

Biography / Administrative History

Jerome Sixtus Ricard was born in Plaisans, France on January 21, 1850, the only one of Leger and Mary Ann Ricard's seven children to leave his native land for America. After attending public schools in Plaisans and the Jesuit Colleges at Avignon, France, and Turin, Italy, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1871 in Monaco and became a member of the Turin Province of the Society of Jesus.

Ricard came to America in 1873 and studied philosophy for several years at Santa Clara College. From 1877-1880 he taught grammar and mathematics at Santa Clara, then at St. Ignatius College in San Francisco. From 1883-1887 he completed his theological studies at Woodstock, Maryland, and was ordained in 1886. Upon completion of his Jesuit tertianship at Florissant, Missouri, in 1891, he returned to Santa Clara to teach ethics, mathematics, political economy, and history.

Ricard first became interested in astronomy about 1890 when he enrolled in a summer astronomy course at Creighton University. Around 1900 he began a systematic study of sunspots with an 8-inch telescope mounted in the Mission Gardens. He was elected a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1907, and thereupon brought forth his theory that terrestrial weather phenomena are affected by sunspot activity.

Although most of the scientific world scoffed at his proposals, Ricard quietly held his ground. He left the classroom and began a meteorological career that expanded from ten-day forecasts to monthly and even seasonal predictions. These forecasts appeared in The Santa Clara and in newspapers throughout the West Coast and other parts of the United States. A conglomeration of agriculturists, athletic directors, and motion picture companies were regular subscribers to his monthly magazine, The Sunspot, and would base their activities on his forecasts.

Ricard came to be well-known in his time because of the practical application of his scientific studies to people's everyday needs, and was affectionately called "Padre of the Rains."

To aid him in his meteorological work, the Ricard Observatory was constructed between 1924 and 1928 through a fund drive organized by the Knights of Columbus and others who relied on his observations and forecasts. An underground concrete room was built just to the north of the observatory to house two seismographs, accommodating another of Ricard's scientific interests, seismology, which he began to pursue after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Through his efforts, Santa Clara University became an official Seismological Station and a member of the Jesuit Seismological Association.

Ricard died on 1930 at Santa Clara.

From the guide to the Jerome S. Ricard, S.J., Papers, 1864-1951, 1906-1930, (Santa Clara University Archives)