The 2008-2009 Harlow Shapley Visiting Lecturers
The Society members participating in the 2007 - 2008 Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships Program are listed below with their current affiliations and present interests. All of these visitors can give interesting public talks on a variety of topics, which in some cases extend beyond those listed. If you would like a talk on some particular topic, please specify it on the Visit Request Form or in a separate letter. These requests will be considered whenever possible in making the speaking assignments, but travel cost considerations may limit this choice in some cases.
Speakers
Luis Alberto Aguilar-Chiu — Research Professor, Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM, Ensenada, MX - simulating galaxy collisions on the computer, the inflationary universe, searching for moving groups with the Hipparcos database, orbital structure of elliptical galaxies.
Dana E. Backman — NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA - extrasolar planets, nearby stars, SIRTF mission, history of solar system, astrobiology, search for life in solar system, Mars rock ALH 84001.
Fran Bagenal — Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado - Solar System, Space Environment, Jupiter, Pluto, Education, Women in Astronomy.
Amy C. Barr — Southwest Research Institute, Origin and evolution of icy satellites, Habitability of Icy Satellites, Enceladus, Europa, and Io.
Wendy Hagen Bauer — Professor of Astronomy, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA - stellar evolution, black holes, planetary exploration, extraterrestrial life, binary stars (can lecture in Spanish).
Suketu P. Bhavsar — Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY - large scale structure, astronomy education, science and art, Einstein.
Matthew Bobrowsky — Astronomer, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD - science with the Hubble Space Telescope, planetary nebulae, life in the universe, our place in space, the process of science.
Niel Brandt — Dept. of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA - supermassive black holes, x-ray surveys of the distant universe, Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Neil Francis Comins — Professor of Physics & Astronomy, University of Maine, Orono, ME - gravity waves, general relativity, radio astronomy, computer simulations in astronomy, cosmology, black holes, galaxies and galactic evolution, astronomy education.
Fronefield Crawford — Assistant Professor, Haverford College, Haverford PA - pulsars, radio astronomy, remote sensing.
Susana E. Deustua — Astrophysicist and Director of Educational Activities, AAS, Washington, DC - observational cosmology: supernova cosmology and dark energy, supernova acceleration probe, astronomy education research, careers in astronomy.
David H. DeVorkin — National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC - origin and development of modern astrophysics, Henry Norris Russell, history of AAS, origins of space sciences, development of space astronomy.
Joseph F. Dolan — Astrophysicist, Department of Astronomy at San Diego State University - black holes, neutron stars, x-ray binaries, gravitational lenses, science and pseudo-science.
A. Gordon Emslie — Professor, Oklahoma State University, solar flares, high-energy solar physics, the anthropic principle in astrophysics.
Craig B. Foltz — Program Director for NOAO/NSO & Unit Coordinator Optical/IR Astronomy, Division of Astronomy, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA - advanced technology, telescopes, broad absorption line quasars, quasar surveys, intergalactic medium.
Laurence W. Fredrick — Retired-Hamilton Professor of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA - black holes, position measurements, cosmic distances, binary stars, ancient monuments of astronomical significance.
Jonathan P. Gardner — Chief of the Observational Cosmology Lab at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Deputy Senior Project Scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. Observational Cosmology, James Webb Space Telescope, Galaxy evolution, Dark energy.
Robert F. Garrison — Chief of the Observational Cosmology Lab at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and Professor of Astronomy, University of Toronto, Canada - stellar spectroscopy, classifying the nearby stars, galactic structure, peculiar & variable stars, stellar classification, Supernova Shelton 1987A, astronomy education.
Robert D. Gehrz — Professor of Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Past President of the American Astronomical Society, Minneapolis, MN - SIRTF Project, Infrared Astronomy with SOFIA, infrared studies of classical novae, contributions of classical novae to the interstellar medium.
Mitchell K. Gordon — SETI Institute. Planetary Scientist - dynamics in the solar system; planetary rings; small satellites; Cassini Mission results; history of astronomy.
David H. Grinspoon — Principal Scientist, Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, CO - astrobiology, comparative planetology, climate evolution on Earthlike planets, history and philosophy of science.
Douglas P. Hamilton — University of Maryland - Planetary Science. orbital dynamics, origin of the solar system. Topics: Rings, Satellites.
Heidi B. Hammel — Senior Research Scientist and Co-Director of Research, Space Science Institute, Ridgefield, CT - Uranus, Neptune, giant planets in our Solar System, planets around other stars; Hubble Space Telescope, James Webb Space Telescope, telescopes in space; the Solar System, Pluto.
Mary Kay Hemenway — Director, Astronomy Education Services, University of Texas, Austin, TX - K - 14 astronomy education, women in astronomy, the Galileo scandal, SOFIA (stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy).
James E. Hesser — Director, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, Canada - The oldest stars, clusters & associations, archaeology of the Milky Way, the galaxy and its nearest neighbors, extraterrestrial life, space astronomy.
David W. Hogg — Assistant Professor, Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, NYU, NY - evolution of galaxies, galaxy interactions and the merger rate, galaxy types - properties and statistics, observed properties of the universe.
Fiona Hoyle — Assistant Professor, Widener University, Chester, PA - large scale structure, galaxy redshift surveys, voids, void galaxies, QSO redshift surveys. Can lecture in Spanish.
John P. Huchra — Professor of Astronomy, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA - observational cosmology, extra-galactic astron., stellar populations, star formation, dynamics of galaxies, cosmic distance scale, dark matter, fate of the universe.
Chris David Impey — Professor of Astronomy, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ - quasars, cosmology, galaxies, life in the universe, philosophy of science, science literacy, art & science.
Ray Jayawardhana — Associate Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Canada - origin and diversity of planetary systems, brown dwarfs, star formation, science writing.
Christine Jones — Astrophysicist, Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA - hot gas and dark matter in galaxies and clusters, multi-wavelength observations of the sky, the Chandra x-ray observations.
Steven D. Kawaler — Professor, Iowa State University, Director Emeritus WET Project, Ames, IA - structure and evolution of stars, white dwarfs and other endpoints of stellar evolution, stellar pulsation, seismology of stars, past and future of our sun, extrasolar planets, life beyond Earth.
Robert P. Kirshner — Clowes Professor of Science, President of the AAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA - supernovae, cosmology, evidence for cosmic acceleration, dark energy in the universe.
Robert A. Knop — Assistant Professor of Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN - Expansion of the Universe, The Discovery of Dark Energy, Seyfert Galaxies and Quasars: the Monsters that Lurk Within, Galaxy Interactions and Evolution, Supernovae.
Edward W. Kolb — Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, The University of Chicago - cosmology, birth of the universe, the inner/outer space connection, dark matter, dark energy, inflation.
Eric Linder — Physicist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA -Hidden Dimensions, Warped Gravity, and Dark Energy Exploring the History and Fate of the Universe On Beyond Einstein.
Rosaly M.C Lopes — Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech. Principal Scientist and Cassini Radar Investigation Scientist. Planetary Geology and Volcanology (particularly Io and Titan), volcanoes on Earth and the planets, Cassini and Galileo missions.
Stephen P. Maran — Press Officer, American Astronomical Society - science and the news media, new discoveries in space science, astronomy from space, stars, nebulae, supernovae, galaxies, quasars, telescopes and satellites.
Laurence A. Marschall — Professor of Physics, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA - supernovae, CCDs, cosmology, star clusters, solar eclipses, eclipsing binary stars, the transit of Venus, astronomy education, undergraduate research.
Richard McCray — Professor of Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO - cosmic x-ray sources, structure and evolution of galaxies, supernovae.
Felipe Menanteau — Associate Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD - distant galaxies, morphological evolution of galaxies, HST, imaging.
Eugene F. Milone — Faculty Professor, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada - planet finding; archaeo- and cultural astronomy; history of cosmology. modeling stellar and planetary eclipses; how to improve infrared photometry; the revolutionary GAIA mission.
Anthony F. J. Moffat — Professor of Astronomy, Department of Physics, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada - massive stars, exploding stars, stellar clusters, the galaxy, observational astronomy (groundbased and space).
Andrew P. Odell — Emeritus Associate Professor, Northern Arizona University - stellar evolution, galaxy evolution.
Terry D. Oswalt — Head of the Physics and Space Sciences Department and Associate Provost for Research, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL - stellar evolution, binary stars and exoplanets, astrobiology, minor planets, research with small telescopes, astronomy education, light pollution.
Robert T. Pappalardo — Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) CalTech, Pasadena, CA. Principal Scientist and Director's Fellow, Planetary Science and Life Detection Section. Topics: Europa, The Galilean satellites, Icy Satellites, Astrobiology.
Jay M. Pasachoff — Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and Director of Hopkins Observatory, Williams College, Williamstown, MA -Recent and future total solar eclipses, Transits of Mercury and Venus, Eclipses, Occultations by Pluto and Charon, and Transits What's the Story on Pluto as a Planet?
Geraldine J. Peters — Research Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA - mass loss in hot stars, interacting binary stars (including algols and black holes), uv astronomy.
A.G. Davis Philip — Research Professor, Union College and Institute for Space Observations, Schenectady, NY - galactic structure, photometry (Strömgren & Strömvil), CCDs, stellar evolution, globular clusters, large telescopes, organizing astronomical meetings.
Catherine A. Pilachowski — Professor of Astronomy, Indiana University, Past President of the American Astronomical Society, Bloomington, IN - Giant Telescopes and Ancient Skies: New Views of the Universe Heavy Metal from Ancient Superstars Dusty Stars and Clusters: Exploring for Planets with Spitzer.
Mercedes T. Richards — Professor of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State University, University Park, PA - astrotomography of close interacting binaries, hydrodynamic simulations of gas flows, multiwavelength and multi-epoch studies of close binaries, magnetic activity in cool stars, long-term variability in the length of the solar cycle.
Luis F. Rodriguez — Professor of Astronomy, Instituto de Astronomia, UNAM, Morelia, MX - in search of other worlds, the birth of a new star, faster than light?, microquasars in the Milky Way, disks and jets in young stars, superluminal sources.
Nancy Grace Roman — The Untranquil Universe, Early history of NASA's astronomy program, Spectral classification of stars and the HR diagram, Development of the Hubble and its predecessors.
Robert T. Rood — Professor of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA -Evolution of stars in dense star clusters; origin and evolution of the light elements; the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
Eric M. Schlegel — Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA - supernovae, cataclysmic variables, x-ray emission of galaxies, x-ray binaries.
Nicholas M. Schneider — Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Astrophysics & Planetary Sciences and Lab. for Atmospheric & Space Physics, Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO - comparative planetology, planetary exploration, Jupiter & Io, solar system in 3-D, extrasolar planets, astronomy education.
George A. Seielstad — Center for People and the Environment, Senior Advisor to UND President, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND--radio astronomy, extraterrestrial life, space-time context for Earth and Humanity.
Harry L. Shipman — Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE - bioastronomy, black holes, white dwarf stars, extraterrestrial life, science and religion, space exploration, astronomy education.
Patrick O. Slane — Supernova remnants; cosmic rays; young neutron stars; X-ray astronomy.
J. Allyn Smith — Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico - White Dwarfs, Photometry.
Denise C. Stephens — Professor, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT - Brown Dwarfs, Binary Trans-Neptunian Objects, Infrared Astronomy.
John H. Thomas — Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Sciences and of Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY - solar astrophysics, solar activity, solar and stellar seismology, astrophysical fluid dynamics, stellar pulsations, solar and stellar dynamos.
Virginia L. Trimble — Professor of Physics, Univ. of California, Irvine, CA - structure and evolution of stars and galaxies, supernovae, cosmology: man's place in the universe, astrophysics faces the millennium, quest for other worlds, dark matter, black holes, life in the universe.
Michael S. Turner — Professor of Physics, Astron. & Astrophys., University of Chicago, Scientist, Fermilab, Batavia, IL - evolution of the universe, confluence of cosmology, astrophysics, and particle physics, dark matter and galaxy formation.
Arthur R. Upgren — Professor Emeritus. of Astronomy, Wesleyan University, Middletown and Yale University, New Haven, CT - galactic structure, stellar spectra & motions, outdoor lighting & astronomy, new discoveries about planets and satellites.
Saeqa Dil Vrtilek — Astrophysicist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA - multiwavelength astrophysics, x-ray and ultraviolet astronomy, accreting binary systems, planetary nebulae.
William H. Waller — Research Associate Professor, Tufts University, Medford, MA - lives of galaxies over cosmic time, starbirth and starburst activity, ecology of our Milky Way Galaxy, NASA's space science education program.
Ira M. Wasserman — Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - high energy astrophysics, cosmology, interplay between physics and astronomy.
Paul R. Weissman — Senior Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA - comets, asteroids, planetary exploration, solar system origin, spacecraft & mission design.
Darren M. Williams — Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; Extrasolar planets, planetary climate and habitability, planet detection, giant impacts.
Sponsored by the American Astronomical Society
With support from the Harlow Shapley Visiting Lectureships Endowment Fund
Dr. Jennifer Grier
Shapley Program Director
American Astronomical Society
Telephone: 202-328-2010, ext. 106
FAX: 202-234-2560
email: shapley@aas.org