Andrea Ghez, Astrophysicist Extraordinaire
Dear Friends of Women in Science,
This weekend I went to a talk on exoplanets sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa at UCLA. In the course of introductions, I heard that Andrea Ghez, Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Astrophysics at UCLA, had recently been named recipient of the Crafoord Prize, along with Germany's Reinhard Genzel. The award recognizes their parallel work on the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, its status as a supermassive black hole, and evidence for black holes at the center of other galaxies. Her team, working at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, used speckle interferometry to make it possible to photograph the center of the galaxy and take the equivalent of time-lapse photographs of how stars move in that region. Their results were strong evidence for the black hole's characteristics.
The Crafoord Prize is awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy, as are the Nobel Prizes, and recognizes work in fields not covered by the Nobel Prizes such as mathematics and astronomy. Needless to say, it's highly prestigious. The introduction included the information that Ghez is the first woman to receive this prize. In 2008, Ghez was named a MacArthur Fellow, an award commonly referred to as a genius award, as well. You can read more about Andrea Ghez and see her speak in a videotape on a UCLA web site here.
After the many times we've discussed women's networking and how women in science often feel isolated, it warmed my heart to see her laughing and talking science with the famous speakers and others present, all of them men, but men who obviously respect her and also enjoy her company.
Ghez received her PhD from Caltech in 1992. She went to MIT as an undergraduate. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004.
She is married and has two young sons, so she has achieved her outstanding success in astrophysics without having to renounce having children. In a pattern we've also seen many times, her husband is also a scientist, a geologist at RAND Corporation.
It's inspiring to find out about her scientific success along with her family-career balance.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Marian for Math,
YES, I know exactly what you mean! I'm the same, that's why I'm trying to do a bit of publicity for these women in science who've achieved great success under the radar. Every bit helps, I think. Don't feel bad, though, we're all in the same boat.
best,
Laura
Laura
In truth, I'm appalled at how few famous women I know in science. I know that many of them are not in my field(s), but still, I can't believe I never heard of these ladies!
Either I have to start reading more (hard to do) or looking at different literature. Or, maybe it's that their success are not well publicized?
Marian
It seems like she was on TV almost ten years ago, a long time ago anyway, but I do remember her. She had a great smile and looked very relaxed and casual, California-style. Funny, since she went to MIT. I'm happy to hear she's comfortable with the guys and she's married with two kids. Hooray for balance!
Very inspiring! I had not heard of her, but am not in a closely related field so perhaps that explains it. She's definitely a woman in science we should have on the tips of our tongues, though, next time you ask us to name five!
SSW
