Eileen Dolores Friel is an American astronomer specializing in the

metallicity In astronomy, metallicity is the Abundance of the chemical elements, abundance of Chemical element, elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-Dark matter, dark) matt ...

star cluster A star cluster is a group of stars held together by self-gravitation. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters, tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound; and open cluster ...

s. She is a former director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and

Lowell Observatory Lowell Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, United States. Lowell Observatory was established in 1894, placing it among the oldest observatories in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark ...

, and a professor emeritus of astronomy at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Education and career

Friel was a physics major at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

. After going to the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

for

Part III of the Mathematical Tripos Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Part (surname) *Parts (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media *Part (music), a single strand or melody or harmony of music within a larger ensemble or a polyphonic musical composition *Part (bibliograph ...

, she returned to the US for doctoral study in astronomy and astrophysics at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

. Her dissertation, ''A study of the stellar populations in two high galactic latitude fields with comparison to galaxy models'', was completed in 1986 under the supervision of

Robert Kraft Robert Kenneth Kraft (born June 5, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Kraft Group, a diversified holding company with assets in paper and packaging, sports and entertainmen ...

. After postdoctoral research positions at the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (, ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Ban ...

, NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre, and

University of Hawaii A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, she served as director of the Maria Mitchell Observatory for five years. She moved to the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

as a program director in the Division of Astronomical Sciences, and served there as deputy director of the division for many years. In 2009 she was named director of the

; however, she stepped down a year later, and moved to Indiana University in 2011.

Recognition

Friel was named a Fellow 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 2009, "for distinguished service to the astronomical community as Executive Officer of the Astronomical Section at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and for diligently mentoring many young scientists in the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program". In 2020, Indiana University gave her their Bicentennial Medal.

References

External links

Home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friel, Eileen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American astronomers American women astronomers College of William & Mary alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Indiana University faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science