Brenda Lynn Dingus is an American particle astrophysicist at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

, known for her research on

gamma-ray burst In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are extremely energetic events occurring in distant Galaxy, galaxies which represent the brightest and most powerful class of explosion in the universe. These extreme Electromagnetic radiation, ele ...

s and

cosmic ray Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the ...

Education and career

Dingus majored in physics at

Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California, focused on science and engineering. It is part of the Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds and resources. The college enrolled 902 undergra ...

, graduating in 1982. She completed a Ph.D. in 1988 at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, specializing in experimental cosmic-ray physics under the supervision of Gaurang Yodh. After working as a researcher for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

at the

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C., in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959, as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC ...

from 1989 to 1996, in the

Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope The Energetic Gamma Ray Experiment Telescope (EGRET) was one of four instruments outfitted on NASA's Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite. Since lower energy gamma rays cannot be accurately detected on Earth's surface, EGRET was built to det ...

program, she joined the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

as an assistant professor of physics in 1996, where she became one of the founding officers of the Four Corners Section of 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 ...

(APS), in 1997. She moved from there to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 2000. While at the University of Wisconsin she began working with Los Alamos National Laboratory on the

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST, also FGRST), formerly called the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), is a space observatory being used to perform gamma-ray astronomy observations from low Earth orbit. Its main instrument is ...

(GLAST) mission, and in 2002 she moved to Los Alamos as a staff scientist, including work on the Milagro experiment and later as US spokesperson and operations manager for the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Experiment.

Recognition

Dingus was a 1999 recipient of the

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. T ...

, "for the development of innovative detectors for gamma-ray astrophysics, and for the creation of an exceptionally wide-ranging education and outreach program". She was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

in 2006, after a nomination from the APS Division of Astrophysics, "for her pioneering work on understanding the highest energy gamma-ray emission from gamma-ray bursts". She is also a Los Alamos National Laboratory Fellow, in the class of 2011. She was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dingus, Brenda Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American astrophysicists American women astronomers American women physicists Harvey Mudd College alumni University of Maryland, College Park alumni NASA astrophysicists University of Utah faculty University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel American women academics 21st-century American women Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences