Lecture: “From Black Holes to Habitable Exoplanets: Our Incredible Cosmos”

Sep 27, 2017 6:30 PM
LAU New York

In partnership with the American University of Beirut and the Consul General of Lebanon Majdi Ramadan

Dr. George Helou is Research Professor of Physics and Executive Director of IPAC, the NASA Infrared Astronomy Center at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He oversees science operations for space telescopes and for major astronomical archives for NASA and ground-based observatories. Helou has been a key participant in the research and science management for every major space infrared astronomy project launched by NASA or ESA (European Space Agency).

Helou’s research has ranged from cosmology to solar system objects, with special emphasis on understanding galaxies, the formation of stars out of gas and dust, and the evolution of the first generation of galaxies and quasars into today’s universe. He has discovered several basic properties of galaxies, including infrared colors and radio properties, and identified the physics underlying these properties.

Born in Lebanon, Helou graduated from the American University of Beirut with a BSc in Physics. He earned a PhD in Astrophysics and Radio Science from Cornell University, and completed postdoctoral studies at the Arcetri Observatory in Florence, Italy. He has published nearly three hundred articles in professional journals resulting in well over 32,000 citations. 

His awards include the Kuwait Prize in Basic Sciences – Physics (2016), the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal (2010), the NASA Public Service Medal (2004), the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (2001), and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1992).  He was elected President of the Academy of Sciences of Lebanon in January 2014.