
Feryal Özel (born May 27, 1975) is a
Turkish
Turkish may refer to:
*a Turkic language spoken by the Turks
* of or about Turkey
** Turkish language
*** Turkish alphabet
** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation
*** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey
*** Turkish communities and mi ...
-American
astrophysicist born in
Istanbul,
Turkey, specializing in the physics of compact objects and high energy astrophysical phenomena. As of 2022, Özel is the Department Chair and a professor at the
Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics
The School of Physics is an academic unit located within the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Georgia, United States. It conducts research and teaching activities related to physics at the undergraduate ...
in
Atlanta. She was previously a professor at the
University of Arizona in
Tucson, in the Astronomy Department and
Steward Observatory.
Özel graduated ''summa cum laude'' from
Columbia University's
Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and received her PhD at
Harvard University with
Ramesh Narayan acting as Thesis advisor. She was a Hubble Fellow and member at the
Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, New Jersey. She was a Fellow at the
Harvard-Radcliffe Institute and a visiting professor at the
Miller Institute at
UC Berkeley.
Özel is widely recognized for her contributions to the field of
neutron stars,
black hole
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
s, and
magnetars. She is a member and Modeling lead of the
Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) that released
the first image of a black hole.
Özel received the
Maria Goeppert Mayer award
The Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award is an annual prize presented by the American Physical Society in recognition of an outstanding contribution to physics research by a woman. It recognizes and enhances outstanding achievements by women physicists in ...
from the
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...
in 2013
for her outstanding contributions to neutron star astrophysics. Özel has appeared on numerous TV documentaries including ''
Big Ideas'' on
PBS and the ''
Universe'' series in the
History Channel.
Along with
Alexey Vikhlinin
Alexey Vikhlinin (born September 17, 1970) is a Russian-American astrophysicist notable for achievements in the astrophysics of high energy phenomenon, namely galaxy cluster cosmology and the design of space-based X-ray observatories. He is curre ...
, Özel is the Science and Technology Definition Team Community Co-chair for the ''
Lynx X-ray Observatory''
NASA Large Mission Concept Study.
Education
The following list summarizes Prof. Özel's education path:
* 1992 -
Üsküdar American Academy
Üsküdar American Academy (Turkish: Üsküdar Amerikan Lisesi) is a private coeducational high school located in Üsküdar borough of Istanbul, Turkey.
The school was established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1 ...
, İstanbul, Turkey
* 1996 -
BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics,
Columbia University, New York City
* 1997 -
MSc
MSC may refer to:
Computers
* Message Sequence Chart
* Microelectronics Support Centre of UK Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
* MIDI Show Control
* MSC Malaysia (formerly known as Multimedia Super Corridor)
* USB mass storage device class (USB MSC ...
in Physics,
Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen
* 2002 -
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
* Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification
Entertainment
* '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series
* ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic
* Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group
** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...
in Astrophysics,
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
Honors and awards
* Breakthrough Prize, 2020
* Chair, Astrophysics Advisory Committee (APAC), NASA, 2019
* Fellowship,
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...
, 2016
* Visiting Miller Professorship,
University of California Berkeley, 2014
* Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, American Physical Society, 2013
* Fellowship,
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
, 2012-2013
* Bart J. Bok Prize,
Harvard University, 2010
* Lucas Award, San Diego Astronomy Association, 2010
* Visiting Scholar Fellowship,
Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Foundation
The Scientific and Technological Research Institution of Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Araştırma Kurumu, TÜBİTAK) is a national agency of Turkey whose stated goal is to develop "science, technology and innovation" (STI) policies ...
, 2007
*
Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), science operations and mission operations center for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), and science operations center for the ...
, 2002-2005
* Distinguished Scholar Award, Daughters of Atatürk Foundation, 2003
* Keck Fellowship,
Institute for Advanced Study, 2002
* Van Vleck Fellowship,
Harvard University, 1999
* Kostrup Prize,
Niels Bohr Institute, 1997
* Niels Bohr Institute Graduate Fellowship, 1996-1997
* Applied Mathematics Faculty Award,
Columbia University, 1996
* Fu Foundation Scholarship,
Columbia University, 1994-1996
* Research Fellowship,
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
, 1995
* Turkish Health and Education Foundation Scholarship, 1992-1994
References
External links
"Big Ideas" Website (Resume)Personal webpage at the University of Arizona*
List of published articles according to IOP PublishingList of published articles according to NASA/ADS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozel, Feryal
Georgia Tech faculty
University of Arizona faculty
American women astronomers
Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni
Harvard University alumni
Living people
1975 births
Turkish women academics
Academics from Istanbul
People associated with CERN
American astrophysicists
American people of Turkish descent
Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics people
Turkish astronomers
Black holes
Hubble Fellows