Meg Urry facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Meg Urry
|
|
|---|---|
Meg Urry speaking at Fermilab.
|
|
| 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 |
Dr. Meg Urry is an amazing American astrophysicist. She has led important groups like the American Astronomical Society and the Physics Department at Yale University. She also worked with the famous Hubble Space Telescope. Today, she is a special professor at Yale University and leads their Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics. Dr. Urry is famous for her work on black holes and studying the universe in many ways. She also works hard to make science fair for everyone, especially for women.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Dr. Urry grew up in Indiana and Massachusetts. She went to Tufts University for college, studying both math and physics. She finished in 1977 and received a special award for physics. She also joined Phi Beta Kappa, which is a big honor for smart students. She became interested in astronomy during a summer job at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
She earned her master's degree in 1979 and her Ph.D. (a very high degree) in physics in 1984 from Johns Hopkins University. Her advisor was Art Davidsen. For her Ph.D. project, she studied special objects called blazars at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
Her Career in Science
After getting her Ph.D., Dr. Urry worked as a researcher at M.I.T.'s Center for Space Research. Then, she did more research at the Space Telescope Science Institute. In 1990, the Institute hired her as a full-time astronomer.
Working at Yale University
Dr. Urry joined Yale University in 2001. At that time, she was the only woman in the physics department. She was the head of the Yale Physics Department from 2007 to 2013. From 2013 to 2017, she was a leader in the American Astronomical Society. She was President-Elect, then President, and then Past President. In 2020, she became one of the first people to be named a fellow of the American Astronomical Society.
Making Science Fair for Everyone
Dr. Urry has worked hard to make science fair for everyone, especially for women. She has given more than 60 talks about this important topic. She spoke at events like the Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics. In 1992, she helped organize the first meeting of Women in Astronomy with Laura Danly. This meeting created the "Baltimore Charter," which aimed to improve conditions for women in astronomy. The American Astronomical Society supported this plan.
When she was President of the American Astronomical Society, Dr. Urry also focused on making sure people were treated with respect. In 2010, she won the Women in Space Science Award from the Adler Planetarium. In 2015, she won the Edward A. Bouchet Leadership award from Yale University.
Studying Black Holes
Dr. Urry has written over 330 science papers. She studies huge supermassive black holes that are found in the centers of galaxies. These are called Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). She also looks at how normal galaxies are connected to AGNs. She and her research team used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to learn how supermassive black holes grow.
Awards and Special Honors
- 1976, 1977, N. Hobbs Knight Award for Physics from Tufts University
- 1976, Phi Beta Kappa
- 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
