An astrophysicist at the
University of California, San Diego whose wide-ranging research advanced our understanding
of how stars, spiral galaxies and planetary systems form has been awarded the
$1-million Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
Frank H. Shu, a professor of
physics UC San Diego, will receive the award "in recognition of his outstanding
lifetime contributions in theoretical astronomy" by the Shaw Prize Foundation
in Hong Kong, which announced the award today. The prize will be formally
presented to him at a ceremony on October 7.
The foundation's award, which
includes a medal of the philanthropist Sir Run Run Shaw, is annually bestowed
on individuals who have made "distinguished and significant" achievements in
three categories: astronomy, life science and medicine, and the mathematical
sciences. First awarded in 2004, it is sometimes referred to as the "Nobel
Prize of the East."
"This award is a significant
honor for both Frank Shu and UC San Diego," said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. "It's
a validation of the tremendous impact that Frank has had on advancing the field
of astronomy."
"Frank has long been one of my
scientific heroes," said Mark Thiemens, Dean of UC San Diego's Division of
Physical Sciences. "This prize is one more validation of how significant his
influence has been to astronomy, astrophysics and cosmochemistry."
Just last month Shu was honored
by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which announced that he had won its
2009 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal for a lifetime of achievement in
astronomy.
Shu's work on the origins of
stars over a span of 30 years generated a comprehensive and widely accepted
theory that explains the main events in the birth and evolution of a star from
the collapse of a cloud of molecules, to the accretion of a magnetized disk of
material from which planets form to the appearance of jets and other outflows
from a star system.
The theory Shu and his students
developed also predicted that comets, once thought to form from pristine
materials in the coldest regions of interplanetary space, would contain bits of
rock highly transformed by heat. Their unconventional view, put forth in 1996,
was confirmed a decade later with the return of dust samples from Comet Wild.
Shu received a bachelor's
degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963 and a
PhD in astronomy from Harvard University in 1968. He has served on the
faculties of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and UC Berkeley.
From 2002 to 2006, Shu served as president of National Tsing Hua University of
Taiwan. He joined the faculty at UC San Diego as a distinguished professor of
physics in 2006 and also holds the title of University Professor, a UC
system-wide honor reserved for scholars of international distinction who are
recognized as teachers of exceptional ability.
UC San Diego Astrophysicist, Dr. Frank Shu Wins Shaw Prize in Astronomy
An astrophysicist at the
University of California, San Diego whose wide-ranging research advanced our understanding
of how stars, spiral galaxies and planetary systems form has been awarded the
$1-million Shaw Prize in Astronomy.
Frank H. Shu, a professor of
physics UC San Diego, will receive the award "in recognition of his outstanding
lifetime contributions in theoretical astronomy" by the Shaw Prize Foundation
in Hong Kong, which announced the award today. The prize will be formally
presented to him at a ceremony on October 7.
The foundation's award, which
includes a medal of the philanthropist Sir Run Run Shaw, is annually bestowed
on individuals who have made "distinguished and significant" achievements in
three categories: astronomy, life science and medicine, and the mathematical
sciences. First awarded in 2004, it is sometimes referred to as the "Nobel
Prize of the East."
"This award is a significant
honor for both Frank Shu and UC San Diego," said Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. "It's
a validation of the tremendous impact that Frank has had on advancing the field
of astronomy."
"Frank has long been one of my
scientific heroes," said Mark Thiemens, Dean of UC San Diego's Division of
Physical Sciences. "This prize is one more validation of how significant his
influence has been to astronomy, astrophysics and cosmochemistry."
Just last month Shu was honored
by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, which announced that he had won its
2009 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal for a lifetime of achievement in
astronomy.
Shu's work on the origins of
stars over a span of 30 years generated a comprehensive and widely accepted
theory that explains the main events in the birth and evolution of a star from
the collapse of a cloud of molecules, to the accretion of a magnetized disk of
material from which planets form to the appearance of jets and other outflows
from a star system.
The theory Shu and his students
developed also predicted that comets, once thought to form from pristine
materials in the coldest regions of interplanetary space, would contain bits of
rock highly transformed by heat. Their unconventional view, put forth in 1996,
was confirmed a decade later with the return of dust samples from Comet Wild.
Shu received a bachelor's
degree in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1963 and a
PhD in astronomy from Harvard University in 1968. He has served on the
faculties of the State University of New York at Stony Brook and UC Berkeley.
From 2002 to 2006, Shu served as president of National Tsing Hua University of
Taiwan. He joined the faculty at UC San Diego as a distinguished professor of
physics in 2006 and also holds the title of University Professor, a UC
system-wide honor reserved for scholars of international distinction who are
recognized as teachers of exceptional ability.