Meg Urry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Meg Urry
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Meg Urry speaking at Fermilab.
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| Education | Tufts University, B.A. 1977 Johns Hopkins University, M.S. 1979 Johns Hopkins University, Ph.D. 1984 |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | Yale University |
| Doctoral advisor | Art Davidsen |
Claudia Megan Urry is an American astrophysicist who studies space and stars. She has held important roles, like being the President of the American Astronomical Society and leading the Physics Department at Yale University. She also worked with the famous Hubble Space Telescope.
Currently, Meg Urry is a top professor at Yale University. She also directs the Yale Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. She is known for her amazing work on black holes and for using many different types of light to study space. Beyond her science, she works hard to make sure everyone, especially girls and women, has a fair chance in science and school.
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Early Life and School
Meg Urry grew up in Indiana and Massachusetts. She went to Tufts University for college. There, she studied both math and physics, graduating in 1977.
She became very interested in astronomy during a summer internship. This was at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Later, she earned two more degrees in physics from Johns Hopkins University. She got her master's degree in 1979 and her Ph.D. (doctorate) in 1984. For her Ph.D., she studied special objects called blazars. Blazars are very bright centers of galaxies.
Her Career in Science
After finishing her Ph.D., Dr. Urry did special research jobs at M.I.T. and the Space Telescope Science Institute. In 1990, she was hired as a full-time astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute.
In 2001, Dr. Urry joined the faculty at Yale University. At that time, she was the only woman in the Physics Department. From 2007 to 2013, she was the head of Yale's Physics Department.
She also served as President of the American Astronomical Society from 2014 to 2016. This is a very important group for astronomers. In 2020, she was named one of the first special members of this society.
Working for Fairness in Science
Dr. Urry has worked a lot to help make science fair for everyone. She has given over 60 talks about how to make astronomy and science more equal. She often speaks at events for college women studying physics.
In 1992, she helped organize the first meeting for Women in Astronomy. This meeting created a plan called the "Baltimore Charter." This plan aimed to improve conditions for women in astronomy.
Because of her efforts, she has received special awards. In 2010, she won the Women in Space Science Award. In 2015, she won the Edward A. Bouchet Leadership award from Yale University.
Her Research on Black Holes
Dr. Urry has written more than 330 science papers. She studies huge supermassive black holes found in the centers of galaxies. These are called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). She also researches how normal galaxies are connected to these AGNs.
She and her team used data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This survey helps scientists understand how supermassive black holes grow over time.
Awards and Honors
- 1976, 1977, N. Hobbs Knight Award for Physics from Tufts University
- 1976, Phi Beta Kappa (an honor society)
- 1990, Annie J. Cannon Award in Astronomy
- 1999, American Physical Society Fellow
- 2006, American Women in Science Fellow
- 2007, Connecticut Academy of Science & Engineering
- 2008, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2010, Women in Space Science Award
- 2012, George Van Biesbroeck Prize
- 2016, National Academy of Sciences
- 2020, American Astronomical Society Fellow
- 2023, American Astronomical Society High Energy Astrophysics Division Distinguished Career Prize
See also
In Spanish: Meg Urry para niños
