Committee and Staff Biographical Information
FIONA A. HARRISON, Chair, is the Benjamin M. Rosen Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology in the Space Radiation Laboratory. She is the principal investigator (PI) for Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) Small Explorer, launched in 2012. Dr. Harrison’s primary research interests are in experimental and observational high-energy astrophysics. In addition, she has an active observational program in gamma-ray, x-ray, and optical observations of gamma-ray bursts, active galaxies, and neutron stars. Dr. Harrison was awarded the Robert A. Millikan Prize Fellowship in Experimental Physics in 1993 and the Presidential Early Career Award in 2000. She was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News and the Kennedy School of Government in 2008 and received the NASA Outstanding Public Leadership Medal in 2013. She has also served on the American Astronomical Society (AAS) High Energy Astrophysics Division Executive Committee and several Spitzer Science Center and Michelson Science Center Oversight Committees. She is a member of the AAS and a fellow of the American Physical Society (APA). She was a NASA graduate student research fellow from 1989-1992 and received her Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. She has served on several National Research Council (NRC) committees, including the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2010 (Astro2010), the Committee on NASA’s Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation, the Committee on the Physics of the Universe (producing Quarks to the Cosmos), and she was a member of the Space Studies Board (SSB).
MARCIA J. RIEKE, Vice Chair, is a Regents’ Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona in the Department of Astronomy. Her research interests include infrared observations of galactic nuclei and high-redshift galaxies. Dr. Rieke has served as the deputy-PI on the near-infrared camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and she is currently the PI for the near-infrared camera (NIRCam) for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Dr. Rieke has worked on the Spitzer Space Telescope as a co-investigator for the multiband imaging photometer and as an outreach coordinator and as a member of the Science Working Group. She was also involved with several infrared ground observatories, including the Multiple Mirror Telescope in Arizona. Dr. Rieke is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Rieke currently serves on the NRC’s SSB and the Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics (CAA). She received her Sc.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her previous NRC service includes serving as co-vice chair of the Astro2010 survey committee.
ROGER D. BLANDFORD is the Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, a Professor of Physics at Stanford University and at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and on faculty at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford University. Dr. Blandford is a distinguished theorist with broad expertise in high-energy and plasma astrophysics, active galactic nuclei, x-ray astronomy, and black holes. His research interests include cosmology, black hole astrophysics, gravitational lensing, galaxies, cosmic rays, neutron stars, and white dwarfs. Most recently Dr. Blandford was the chair of the Astro2010 decadal survey. Prior to this, he was chair of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Astronomical Sciences Senior Review, which recommended significant changes in some NSF programs. Dr. Blandford is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a member of the AAS, a fellow of the Royal Society, a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a recipient of the AAS Helen B. Warner Prize, the AAS Dannie Heineman Prize, the Royal Astronomical Society Eddington Medal, and the Humboldt Research Award. From 2003-2013, he was the Pehong and Adele Chen Director of KIPAC. Dr. Blandford received his Ph.D. from Magdalene College, Cambridge, U.K., in astrophysics. He chaired the NRC’s Committee to Review the Science Requirements for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) and was a member of a number of other NRC committees, including the Committee on an Assessment of Balance in NASA’s Science Programs, the Committee on Review of Progress in Astronomy and Astrophysics toward the Decadal Vision, the Committee on the Scientific Context for Space Exploration, the Panel to Review Terrestrial Planet Finder Science Goals, and the Committee on Physics of the Universe. He was chair of a panel during the McKee/Taylor survey on Panel on High-Energy
Astrophysics from Space. He is a former co-chair of the CAA standing committee and is a former member of the SSB.
ERIK L. BURGESS is president at Burgess Consulting, Inc. He has 22 years of experience in space systems engineering, cost/schedule/risk analysis, military logistics, and information technology management, with expertise in space system cost estimation. He earned his M.S. and B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT. He has provided cost estimating and program support to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) since 1995. He has led the development and application of NRO’s principal cost models for space systems, including optical telescopes, instruments, focal planes, and associated systems engineering and integration costs. Mr. Burgess is also responsible for modeling and estimating the cost impacts of technical risks, schedule risks, and alternative/streamlined acquisition strategies for space systems. He is a frequent speaker at national symposia and technical conferences. Prior to starting Burgess Consulting, he was a technical manager at MCR Federal, Inc., a principal consultant at PWC Consulting, LLP, a senior project engineer at the Aerospace Corporation, and a research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Mr. Burgess has been published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Cost Analysis and Parametrics and the Journal of Parametrics.
JOHN E. CARLSTROM is the Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago with the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the Department of Physics, and the Enrico Fermi Institute. As well, he is the deputy director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago. Dr. Carlstrom heads the South Pole Telescope project. He is regarded as a leading experimentalist in the field of cosmology through precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background. His Degree Angular Scale Interferometer in Antarctica revealed the microwave background’s long-sought polarization. He has also led efforts to study imprints in the microwave background created by massive clusters of galaxies and has done pioneering research on young solar systems. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the MacArthur Fellowship award in 1998 and NASA’s Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1997. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Carlstrom has served on numerous NRC committees, including the NRC’s Astro2010 decadal survey, the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Radio Science, the Committee to Review the Science Requirements for the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), and the CAA. He is a former member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee that advises NSF, NASA, and the Department of Energy on selected issues within the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. He
was a member of the Panel on Radio and Submillimeter-wave Astronomy of the McKee/Taylor survey.
MEGAN DONAHUE is a professor at Michigan State University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Her research interests include distribution and cooling flows of the intergalactic gas, star formation in bright galaxies, and distant galactic clusters, for which she uses data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and HST and the European Space Agency’s X-ray Multi-Mirror Newton X-ray Observatory. Dr. Donahue also uses the Spitzer and SOAR (the MSU Chilean telescope) programs to study cooling flows and clusters. She also served on the first WFIRST Science Definition Team and currently serves on the AFTA Science Definition Team. Dr. Donahue earned her B.S. in physics from MIT and her Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Colorado. She previously served on the NRC Astro2010 decadal survey Panel on Electromagnetic Observations from Space, the U.S. National Committee for the International Astronomical Union, and the NASA Astrophysics Performance Assessment Committee. She is currently a member of CAA.
TIMOTHY M. HECKMAN is the inaugural Dr. A. Hermann Pfund Professor at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He is also the director of the Center for Astrophysical Sciences, where he is responsible for promoting and supporting research in astrophysics, nurturing large-scale projects and providing them with an organizational structure, providing a forum and a focus for strategic planning, fostering cooperation between the different elements of the local astrophysics and space science communities, and providing a structured career path for the non-tenure-track research staff. His research interests include galaxy evolution, starbursts, black holes, and active galactic nuclei. Dr. Heckman is a member of the GALEX Science Team, a builder of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), chair of the Pan-STARRS1 Science Consortium Board, vice chair of the Board of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, and he was the chair of the Astrophysical Research Consortium (ARC) board of governors, during which time ARC established the SDSS. He is also involved with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory Visiting Committee, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) North American Science Advisory Committee, and the JWST Advisory Committee. He has authored or co-authored more than 600 scholarly publications that have been cited more than 28,000 times, and he has been invited to give nearly 100 talks at national and international conferences. Dr. Heckman received his B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Washington. He was a member of the NRC’s Astro2010 decadal survey and is currently a CAA member.
JAMES P. LLOYD is an associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University. He also serves as professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. He is currently developing new techniques in experimental astrophysics to directly detect extrasolar planets. Specifically, he works on coronagraphy, interferometry, and adaptive optics. Dr. Lloyd’s work includes the calibration of “Extreme Adaptive Optics” systems, which employ new techniques in interferometry combined with adaptive optics and concepts for an interferometer in Antarctica. He has reviewed proposals for the NSF’s Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program and is part of the working group for the HST’s Cycle 12 comparison of Ground Based Adaptive Optics. He is the principal investigator for two nanosatellites, CUSat and Violet, which are being built by Cornell undergraduates. He served on the JWST Aperture Masking science team. He is currently heavily engaged in a survey of the Kepler field with the GALEX satellite. He received his B.S. in physics from the University of New South Wales in Australia and his M.A. and Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002. He was a member of the Astro2010 decadal survey’s Planetary Systems and Star Formation Science Frontier Panel.
MIGUEL MORALES is an assistant professor at the University of Washington in the Department of Physics. He previously served in postdoc and research scientist positions at MIT and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before joining the faculty at University of Washington in 2008. He has been heavily involved in the design and construction of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and has played a leading role in measuring the Epoch of Reionization power spectrum. He received his B.S. in physics from Swarthmore College. He taught high school physics, astronomy, and chemistry for 3 years before returning to graduate school, where he received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He served on the Astro2010 decadal survey’s Panel on Radio, Millimeter, and Sub-millimeter from the Ground.
EDWARD L. WRIGHT is the David Saxon Presidential Chair in Physics and a professor of astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Wright’s research interests are in theoretical and experimental infrared astronomy and cosmology, especially cosmic microwave background radiation studies. He played a major role on the NASA Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) mission, and in 1992 he received the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal for this work. He was a co-investigator on NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, a mission that is a follow-up to the COBE discovery of fluctuations in the early universe. Dr. Wright participated in the Joint Efficient Dark-Energy Investigation, and he is an interdisciplinary scientist on the NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope Science Working Group. Dr. Wright was the PI for the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer MidEx mission launched in 2009. Dr. Wright is a member of the National
Academy of Sciences and has a Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University. He has been a member of the following NRC studies: the Committee on NASA’s Beyond Einstein Program: An Architecture for Implementation; the Panel on Astronomy and Astrophysics; the Committee on Physics of the Universe; and the Panel on Ultraviolet, Optical, and Infrared Astronomy from Space. He is currently a member of the Autonomy Research for Civil Aviation Committee.
A. THOMAS YOUNG is executive vice president, retired, at Lockheed Martin Corporation. He is currently chair of the board of SAIC. Mr. Young was previously the president and chief operating officer of Martin Marietta Corporation. Prior to joining industry, Mr. Young worked for 21 years at NASA. At NASA, he directed the Goddard Space Flight Center, was deputy director of the Ames Research Center, and directed the Planetary Program in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters. Mr. Young received high acclaim for his technical leadership in organizing and directing national space and defense programs, especially the Viking program. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and of the American Astronautical Society and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He earned his M.S. in management from MIT. Mr. Young previously served as the vice chair of the NRC’s SSB and has extensive NRC experience. Prior committee service includes membership on the Planetary Science Decadal Survey steering committee, the Astro2010 decadal survey committee and the subsequent Panel on Implementing Recommendations from New Worlds, New Horizons Decadal Survey, and the Committee on Assessment of Impediments to Interagency Cooperation on Space and Earth Science Missions. He is currently a member of the CAA.
Staff
DAVID LANG, Study Director, is a senior program officer for the NRC’s Board on Physics and Astronomy (BPA) and joined the NRC in 2004. Mr. Lang received a B.S. in astronomy and astrophysics from University of Michigan and a master’s degree in engineering and public policy from University of Maryland. At BPA he has operated several large committees on scientific and technical policy issues including spectrum management and telecommunications, astronomy and astrophysics, plasma science, particle physics, plasma physics, and materials science. He is also responsible for developing future studies for the board through the identification of pressing policy issues and discussions with federal agency sponsors and the science community.
LEWIS B. GROSWALD is an associate program officer for the SSB. Mr. Groswald is a graduate of George Washington University, where he received a master’s degree
in international science and technology policy and a bachelor’s degree in international affairs, with a double concentration in conflict and security and Europe and Eurasia. Following his work with the National Space Society during his senior year as an undergraduate, Mr. Groswald decided to pursue a career in space policy, with a focus on educating the public on space issues and formulating policy. He has worked on NRC reports covering a wide range of topics, including near-Earth objects, orbital debris, life and physical sciences in space, and planetary science.
ANDREA M. REBHOLZ, program associate, joined the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (ASEB) in 2009. She began her career at the National Academies in October 2005 as a senior program assistant for the Institute of Medicine’s Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation. Prior to the Academies, she worked in the communications department of a D.C.-based think tank. Ms. Rebholz graduated from George Mason University’s New Century College in 2003 with a B.A. in integrative studies-event management and has more than 8 years of experience in event planning.
DIONNA WILLIAMS is a program associate with the SSB, having previously worked for the National Academies’ Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education for 5 years. Ms. Williams has a long career in office administration, having worked as a supervisor in a number of capacities and fields. Ms. Williams attended the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and majored in psychology.
MICHAEL H. MOLONEY is the director of the SSB and the ASEB at the NRC of the National Academies. Since joining the NRC in 2001, Dr. Moloney has served as a study director at the National Materials Advisory Board, the BPA, the Board on Manufacturing and Engineering Design, and the Center for Economic, Governance, and International Studies. In his time at the ASEB/SSB Dr. Moloney has overseen the production of more than 30 reports, including three decadal surveys—in planetary science, life and microgravity science, and solar and space physics, a prioritization of NASA space technology roadmaps, as well as reports on issues such as NASA’s Strategic Direction, orbital debris, the future of NASA’s astronaut corps, and NASA’s flight research program. Before joining the SSB and ASEB in 2010, Dr. Moloney was associate director of the BPA and study director for the 2010 astronomy decadal survey. With 12 years’ experience at the NRC, Dr. Moloney has served as study director or senior staff for a series of reports on subject matters as varied as quantum physics, nanotechnology, cosmology, the operation of the nation’s helium reserve, new anti-counterfeiting technologies for currency, corrosion science, and nuclear fusion. In addition to his professional experience at the Academies, Dr. Moloney has more than 7 years’ experience as a foreign-service officer for the Irish government—including serving at the Irish Embassy in
Washington and the Irish Mission to the United Nations in New York. A physicist, Dr. Moloney did his Ph.D. work at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. He received his undergraduate degree in experimental physics at University College Dublin, where he was awarded the Nevin Medal for Physics.
JAMES C. LANCASTER is the director of the BPA and acting director of the National Materials and Manufacturing Board. He joined the BPA as a program officer in March 2008 and has been responsible staff officer for a number of studies, including the decadal survey on nuclear physics—“Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of the Matter,” “An Assessment of the Science Proposed for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL),” “Research at the Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences,” “Frontiers in Crystalline Matter: From Discovery to Technology,” and “Selling the Nation’s Helium Reserve.” Prior to joining the BPA, Dr. Lancaster served on faculty at Rice University, where he taught introductory physics to science and engineering students, and as a staff researcher, where he participated in experimental investigations of the interactions of highly excited atoms with electromagnetic pulses and surfaces. In addition to his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in physics from Rice University, Dr. Lancaster holds a B.A degree in economics from Rice University and a J.D. degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Prior to entering the field of physics, Dr. Lancaster practiced law for over 12 years, specializing in the financial structuring and restructuring of businesses.
