Chryssa Kouveliotou (born May 26, 1953) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

astrophysicist. She is a professor at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

and a retired senior technologist in high-energy astrophysics at NASA's

Marshall Space Flight Center Marshall Space Flight Center (officially the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center; MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville postal address), is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government's ...

in Huntsville, Alabama.

Early life and education

Kouveliotou was born in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in May of 1953. Her father was a mathematician and her mother had studied economics and worked at the Finance Ministry. She received her bachelor's degree in physics from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, in 1975, and earned her master's degree in science from the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

, England, in 1977. She received her doctorate in astrophysics in 1981 from the

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, Germany, under the supervision of Klaus Pinkau. She was a faculty at the Dept. of Physics of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens before pursuing research work in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Career

Kouveliotou joined NASA

in 1991, initially supporting the Gamma Ray Astrophysics Team. Her numerous contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics have expanded scientific understanding of fleeting, transient phenomena in the Milky Way galaxy and throughout the universe. Besides determining the unique properties of the highly energetic emissions from gamma-ray bursts – the brightest and most powerful cosmic events ever documented – Kouveliotou was part of the team which in 1997 revealed the extragalactic nature of these sources. In 1998, she and her team also made the first confirmed detection of ultra-dense neutron stars called

magnetar A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field (~109 to 1011 T, ~1013 to 1015 G). The magnetic-field decay powers the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays and gamma rays.Ward; Br ...

s – the cinders of stars left over after a supernova. In 2015 she moved as a Professor of Physics at

. She was Chair of the Physics Department at GWU from 2020 to 2023 and since 2019 she is serving as Chair of the US National Committee of the

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; , UAI) is an international non-governmental organization (INGO) with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach, education, and developmen ...

Awards and recognition

Kouvelioutou has been recognised and received numerous awards for her work in high energy astrophysics, including * The

Bruce Medal The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is awarded every year by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific for outstanding lifetime contributions to astronomy. It is named after Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American patroness of astronomy, and was ...

in 2024 * The

Shaw Prize The Shaw Prize is a set of three annual awards presented by the Shaw Prize Foundation in the fields of astronomy, medicine and life sciences, and mathematical sciences. Established in 2002 in Hong Kong, by Hong Kong entertainment mogul and p ...

(jointly with

Victoria M. Kaspi Victoria Michelle Kaspi (born June 30, 1967) is a Canadian astrophysicist and a professor at McGill University. Her research primarily concerns neutron stars and pulsars.

) in 2021 * The

Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics The Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics is jointly awarded each year by the American Astronomical Society and American Institute of Physics for outstanding work in astrophysics. It is funded by the Heineman Foundation in honour of Dannie Hein ...

in 2012 * The

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, a ...

in 2012 * The

Bruno Rossi Prize The Bruno Rossi Prize is awarded annually by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society "for a significant contribution to High Energy Astrophysics, with particular emphasis on recent, original work". Named after as ...

for her work on

s (jointly with Robert Duncan and Christopher Thompson) in 2003 In 2012 she was named one of Time Magazine's 25 most influential people in space. In 2005, she received the NASA Space Act Award, which recognizes and rewards outstanding scientific or technical contributions significant to NASA's mission. In 2002, she was the sole American representative on the international team which received the

Descartes Prize The Descartes Prize was an annual award in science given by the European Union, named in honour of the French mathematician and philosopher, René Descartes. The prizes recognized Outstanding Scientific and Technological Achievements Resulting f ...

in Astrophysics, which recognizes scientific breakthroughs from European collaborative research in any scientific field. Kouvelioutou has been elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences (2013) and of the US Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016). She was elected a foreign member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

in 2015 as well as a foreign member of the Academy of Athens (Greece) in 2016. In 2015 she received the award of Commander of the Order of the Honor by the Greek Government, for excellence in science. She has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1993, of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 2012, as well as Legacy Fellow of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

in 2020. Kouveliotou has served and chaired numerous advisory and evaluation committees of academic institutions. More recently, in 2022, she was elected member of the Scientific Council of the ERC. An

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

discovered by

LONEOS Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search (LONEOS) was a project designed to discover asteroids and comets that orbit near the Earth. The project, funded by NASA, was directed by astronomer Ted Bowell of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz ...

Anderson Mesa Anderson Mesa (Navajo language, Navajo: Hosh Dikʼání) is approximately five mesas long, located 20 miles southeast of Flagstaff, Arizona, United States, east of Lake Mary (Arizona), Lake Mary and north of Mormon Lake, in Coconino County, Arizo ...

was named (28883) Kouveliotou in honor of Chryssa Kouveliotou.

Personal life

Kouveliotou was married to fellow astrophysicist

Jan van Paradijs Johannes A. van Paradijs (9 June 1946 – 2 November 1999) was a Dutch high-energy astrophysicist. He is best known for discovering the first optical afterglow of a gamma-ray burst, GRB 970228, in February 1997, together with two of his student ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kouveliotou, Chryssa Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex American astrophysicists Winners of the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Physical Society Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Academic staff of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens George Washington University faculty Greek emigrants to the United States NASA astrophysicists Columbian College of Arts and Sciences faculty Fellows of the American Astronomical Society Corresponding Members of the Academy of Athens (modern) Scientists from Athens