Dean Benjamin McLaughlin
Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Infobox scientist
Template:Use mdy dates Dean Benjamin McLaughlin (born October 25, 1901, Brooklyn,<ref name="aadl">Template:Cite web</ref> New York City; died December 8, 1965, Ann Arbor, Michigan, US) was an American astronomer. He was a professor of astronomy at the University of Michigan.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> He was the father of the science fiction author Dean B. McLaughlin, Jr. He received his B.S. (1923), his M.S. (1924) and his Ph.D. (1927) all from Michigan. McLaughlin married fellow astronomer Laura Elizabeth Hill in 1927.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
McLaughlin was a professor at the University of Michigan for 38 years<ref name="aadl"/> during which time he served as the doctoral advisor for other notable astronomers including Elizabeth Cornwall Tilley and Benjamin F. Peery.
In 1954, he proposed the theory that there are volcanoes on Mars and that their eruptions change the albedo features called "mare" (The Martian equivalent of Lunar mare). His proposal was partially confirmed in 1971 with the arrival of Mariner 9, which showed that strong winds could move dust around the planet, creating the changes of appearance formerly attributed to some kind of vegetation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
A crater on Mars was named in his honor, as is the crater McLaughlin on the far side of the Moon and the asteroid 2024 McLaughlin. In 2014 NASA scientists announced they had discovered evidence of water in Mars' McLaughlin Crater.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>