Michael A. Stecker
 masmd@sbcglobal.net
 


 

Robert Kirshner is Clowes Professor of Science at Harvard University.  He graduated from
Harvard College in 1970 and received a Ph.D. in astronomy from the California Institute of
Technology in 1975.  After a postdoctoral fellowship at Kitt Peak National Observatory near
Tucson, Arizona, he joined the faculty at the University of Michigan for nine years before moving
to Harvard's astronomy department in 1986.  During his career he was Chairman of the astronomy
departments at both Michigan and Harvard.  A member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1998.   He is Currently (2005)
President of the American Astronomical Society.

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Professor Kirshner has written over 200 research papers dealing with supernovae, the large-scale
distribution of galaxies, and the size and shape of the Universe.  He has also written books for the
general public as well as in National Geographic, Natural History, Scientific American, and Sky & Telescope.  His recent work on the accelerated expansion of the Universe was dubbed the "Science Breakthrough of the Year for 1998" by Science Magazine.  He is frequently seen in PBS NOVA specials dealing with astronomy.  Prof. Kirshner is an eloquent speaker incorporating science with humor.

 

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