Lee Anne Willson facts for kids

Lee Anne Willson, born in 1947, is an American astronomer. She studies stars and space.

Early Life and Learning

Lee Anne Willson was born on March 14, 1947, in Honolulu, Hawaii. She loved science from a young age. Her dad was a scientist, and she spent her childhood reading exciting science fiction books.

When she was in high school, she dreamed of becoming an astronaut. However, she soon realized this might be hard because of her eyesight and a knee problem. Since she still wanted to learn about space, she decided to become an astronomer instead.

College and Graduate School

Willson earned her first degree in physics from Harvard University in 1968. There, she learned that being determined was almost as important as knowing a lot. Once, a professor advised her not to take an advanced physics class because she was a girl. Her response was, "I'll see you in class on Monday."

From 1968 to 1969, she studied in Stockholm as a Fulbright scholar. She then went to the University of Michigan for graduate school. She earned a master's degree in astronomy in 1970 and a PhD in astronomy in 1973. While studying, she researched Mira variables, which are special types of stars. She continued this research when she started working at Iowa State University.

Career and Discoveries

In 1973, Lee Anne Willson began working at Iowa State University. Some people in her department thought she was just working to keep busy, but she was determined to improve the astronomy program.

Willson worked with another scientist, Steven Hill. They developed a new idea about how Mira stars pulsate, or expand and shrink. At first, their idea was different from what others believed. However, about ten years later, it became a widely accepted theory. More recently, she has been studying if main-sequence stars lose mass when they pulsate.

Visiting Positions and Leadership

Willson has also held many visiting positions at other universities and research centers. She was a visiting fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in 1985. She was also a visiting astronomer at Cambridge University in 2007. She has been a visiting professor at Uppsala University and the University of Minnesota. She also visited the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian.

Willson has spent nearly 20 years involved with the American Astronomical Society. She was part of its council, its publication board, and served as vice president. She was also a council member and president for the American Association of Variable Star Observers. From 1989 to 2002, she was on the board of directors for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy.

Awards and Recognition

Lee Anne Willson has received several awards for her work. These include the Annie Jump Cannon award in 1980. She also received the 40th Merit Award from the American Association of Variable Star Observers in 2008. She strongly supports women who want to work in science. In 2020, she was chosen as a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society.

Personal Life

On July 19, 1969, Lee Anne Willson married Stephen J. Willson. He was a mathematics professor at Iowa State. They have two children, Kendra and Jeffrey.

Willson enjoys learning foreign languages, figure skating, and art. She was the president of the Ames Figure Skating Club for about five years. Since 1995, she has been making "paper quilts" using origami, which is the art of paper folding. She is also interested in other types of modular origami.