Feryal Özel facts for kids

Image of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, taken by the Event Horizon Telescope team. Professor Özel is part of this team.

Feryal Özel (born May 27, 1975) is a Turkish American astrophysicist. She was born in Istanbul, Turkey. She studies amazing things in space like neutron stars, black holes, and magnetars. These are all very dense and powerful objects in the universe.

As of 2022, Professor Özel is the head of the physics department at the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics in Atlanta. Before that, she was a professor at the University of Arizona.

Professor Özel went to Columbia University and then earned her PhD at Harvard University. She was also a special researcher at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. She is well-known for her work on neutron stars and black holes. She was a key leader for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. This team made history by releasing the very first image of a black hole.

In 2013, Professor Özel received the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society. This award recognized her important work on neutron stars. She has also appeared on TV shows like Big Ideas on PBS and The Universe on the History Channel.

Professor Özel also helps lead a big project for NASA. It's called the Lynx X-ray Observatory. This project aims to build a powerful new telescope to study X-rays from space.

Education Journey

Professor Özel has had an impressive education path:

• 1992 - Graduated from Üsküdar American Academy in İstanbul, Turkey.
• 1996 - Earned her Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics from Columbia University in New York City.
• 1997 - Received her Master of Science (MSc) degree in Physics from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen.
• 2002 - Completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Astrophysics from Harvard University in Cambridge, USA.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Professor Özel has received many honors and awards for her work:

• Breakthrough Prize, 2020
• Chair of the Astrophysics Advisory Committee (APAC) for NASA, 2019
• Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, 2016
• Visiting Miller Professorship at University of California Berkeley, 2014
• Maria Goeppert Mayer Award from the American Physical Society, 2013
• Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, 2012-2013
• Bart J. Bok Prize from Harvard University, 2010
• Lucas Award from the San Diego Astronomy Association, 2010
• Visiting Scholar Fellowship from the Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Foundation, 2007
• Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2002–2005
• Distinguished Scholar Award from the Daughters of Atatürk Foundation, 2003
• Keck Fellowship from the Institute for Advanced Study, 2002
• Van Vleck Fellowship from Harvard University, 1999
• Kostrup Prize from the Niels Bohr Institute, 1997
• Niels Bohr Institute Graduate Fellowship, 1996–1997
• Applied Mathematics Faculty Award from Columbia University, 1996
• Fu Foundation Scholarship from Columbia University, 1994–1996
• Research Fellowship at CERN, 1995
• Turkish Health and Education Foundation Scholarship, 1992-1994

See also

In Spanish: Feryal Özel para niños