Neil Gehrels
| Neil Gehrels | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Cornelis A. Gehrels October 3, 1952 |
| Occupation | research scientist, professor, lecturer, author |
| Known for | Astrophysics research |
| Awards | Henry Draper Medal (2009) |
Neil Gehrels (born October 3, 1952) is an astrophysicist specializing in the field of Gamma-ray astronomy. He is a Lab Chief at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and is best known for his work developing the field from early balloon instruments to today's space observatories such as the NASA Swift mission for which he is the Principal Investigator. He is currently active in leading the WFIRST wide-field infrared telescope forward toward a launch in the mid-2020s. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Gehrels was born in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin on October 3, 1952. His father was astronomer Tom Gehrels. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona and attended the University of Arizona as an undergraduate student. He receive bachelor's degrees in music and physics from UofA in 1976. He received his Ph.D. in physics in 1982 from the California Institute of Technology with advisor Edward C. Stone. He took a postdoctoral position at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in 1981 working with Bonnard Teegarden. In 1982, he became permanent at Goddard as an astrophysicist. He is married to Ellen Williams, who is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland and Director of ARPA-E at the Department of Energy. They have two children. Thomas (born, 1987) and Emily (born, 1990).
Gehrels is currently the Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. He is the Principal Investigator for the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Mission. Other responsibilities include: Project Scientist for the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (1991–2000), Mission Scientist for Mission INTEGRAL, Deputy Project Scientist for the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and Project Scientist for Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope - WFIRST. He is also a College Park Professor at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at University of Maryland and adjunct professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State. His research focuses on transient objects in the universe such as gamma-ray bursts, supernovae and active galaxy flares. He has worked to develop gamma-ray astrophysics from a field of experiments detecting a few objects to a full astronomical discipline with thousands of sources in many classes.
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