Beth Willman is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either ...

who is the Executive Officer of the LSST (Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) Corporation, an astronomical organization notable for its support of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. She was previously the deputy director of the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (

NOIRLab NSF’s NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory) is a United States federally funded research and development center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy. History Before the foundation of the NOI ...

) and an associate professor of astronomy at Haverford College.

Education

Beth Willman received her B.A. in astrophysics at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. She later received a Ph.D. in astronomy from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. Beth Willman has also been a James Arthur Fellow at the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, and a Clay Fellow at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian.

Research

Beth mainly focuses her research on

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

. Her specialty is investigating the least luminous galaxies in our known

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...

. The galaxy Willman 1, which she discovered during her postdoc, is named after her.

References

External links

* Haverford College faculty American women astronomers University of Washington alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Columbia College (New York) alumni {{NOIRLab