Scott J. Bolton is an American theoretical and experimental space physicist. He is an associate vice president of the

Southwest Research Institute Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...

Space Science and Engineering Division.Scott Bolton, Director, Space Science and Engineering Division
/ref> His research area is planetary sciences with a focus on the giant planets and the origin of the solar system. Previously serving as a member of the ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

'' and ''

Cassini–Huygens ''Cassini–Huygens'' ( ), commonly called ''Cassini'', was a space research, space-research mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) to send a space probe to study the planet Saturn and its system, i ...

'' missions, Bolton became the Principal Investigator of ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

'', a

New Frontiers program The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns. ...

mission to Jupiter which began primary science in 2016.

Career

Illustration of Juno spacecraft at Jupiter (PIA19639)

Bolton is the principal investigator for

, a mission launched in 2011 to study Jupiter's origin, atmosphere, magnetosphere and interior structure, part of NASA's

to explore the outer planets of the solar system. Bolton previously served on the

mission as a member of the plasma spectrometer team and plasma wave instrument team. Dr. Bolton is a Co-Investigator on a number of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

missions including experiments on the Cassini-Huygens mission. During the early phases of the Cassini] mission, Dr. Bolton chaired the Titan (moon), Titan observation planning group for the Cassini-Huygens mission and helped formulate of the scientific investigation of Saturn’s moon Titan. Dr. Bolton has been a Principal Investigator with NASA on various research programs since 1988. His research includes the modeling of the Jovian and Saturnian radiation belts, atmospheric dynamics and composition, and the formation and evolution of the solar system. He has authored over 250 scientific papers, five book chapters, and consulted/appeared in five space science documentaries. He also received

JPL The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

Individual Awards for Exceptional Excellence in Leadership in 2002, 2001, and 1996, and Excellence in Management in 2000; and has received over twenty NASA Group Achievement Awards. Dr. Bolton maintains a relationship with

and the California Institute of Technology through a special appointment as a Senior Staff Scientist. In 2018, Bolton was awarded Smithsonian Magazine's American Ingenuity Award in the

Physical Sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phy ...

category.

Education

Bolton has a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Aerospace Engineering from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Astrophysics from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

. He received the

NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal is an award of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration established in 1991. The medal is awarded to both civilian members of NASA and military astronauts. To be awarded the medal, a NASA employee ...

in 2002 and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal in 2012.

Educational outreach

Dr. Bolton also leads a number of educational programs aimed at developing science, math and art skills for children from elementary to high school and college level. As part of the NASA

Educational Outreach Program ( E/PO), He has helped develop educational programs involving both formal and informal education including the creation of science and math curriculum driving new national standards for elementary level education (an age bracket known to be underserved in this area). Dr. Bolton has worked with a number of corporate sponsors dedicated to space science educational programs, including

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

, Universal,

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

, and

Time-Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

. For example, Bolton and his team worked with Lego to include a trio of solid aluminum figurines representing

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

, and

riding in the Juno spacecraft. Dr. Bolton partnered with the Lewis Center for Educational Excellence on an innovative educational program that provides elementary to high school students an opportunity to experience the scientific and engineering process directly. This program trains teachers on science and math education and provides access to

research facilities and scientists for hundreds of schools around the country. Through his private company, Artistic Sciences, Inc, Dr. Bolton’s has produced a number of musical concerts, art exhibits, scientific documentaries and videos aimed at inspiring and motivating children in academic studies. He has worked with a number of musical artists developing both educational and musical programs. He has worked with the composer

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

in creation the Vangelis Foundation in Athens, Greece dedicated to the combined study of Science, Math, Art, Music and Philosophy.

References

External links

Official website
on JPL ''(Archive from 2012-03-17)''
Official website
on SWRI website {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolton, Scott People from San Antonio University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal 1958 births Living people Planetary scientists