Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck (born 13 June 1955, in
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
) is a Dutch
astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...
and
chemist
A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...
.
She is Professor of
Molecular Astrophysics at
Leiden Observatory,
and served as the President of the
International Astronomical Union
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 ...
(2018–2021) and a co-editor of the ''
Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics'' (2012–present). She is one of the pioneers of
astrochemistry
Astrochemistry is the study of the abundance and reactions of molecules in the universe, and their interaction with radiation. The discipline is an overlap of astronomy and chemistry. The word "astrochemistry" may be applied to both the Solar Syst ...
, and her research is aimed at determination of the structure of cosmic objects using their molecular spectra.
Early life
Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck was born on June 13, 1955, in Leiden, Netherlands. With her father being a professor of ear, nose, and throat medicine, her love of science was inspired at the young age of 12. During this time, her father was invited to spend six months in San Diego, CA. Her first science class ever was through the San Diego Public School system. She fondly remembers that her science teacher, a female and African-American in the 1960s, was forced to overcome many obstacles to reach the position she is at now. Her upbringing inspired Van Dishoeck to gain an interest in science and have the desire to do great things in the world of chemistry. When she went back to the Netherlands, she was motivated to pursue a career in chemistry, with the University of Leiden being the launchpad for her research.
Education and career
Ewine van Dishoeck studied chemistry at the University of Leiden. At Leiden, Van Dishoeck found that physics interested her as well. Her interests began shifting toward chemical physics soon after, with quantum chemistry being one of the main focal points of her senior project research. Tragedy struck when the only full professor at Leiden who specialized in quantum chemistry died. PhD programs in Holland require the thesis to be supervised by a full professor. If Van Dishoeck wanted to stay at Leiden for her graduate work, she needed to find another field of study. At that time, Van Dishoeck’s boyfriend and future husband, Tim de Zeeuw, studied astronomy and finished a course on discoveries of interstellar molecules. From de Zeeuw, she learned that the expert of the interstellar medium was
Alex Dalgarno at Harvard University. While studying with Dalgarno in 1980, she switched her major to astrochemistry and completed her PhD on the excitation and breaking up of molecules within interstellar gas clouds. She then returned to Cambridge, MA, to receive a position in Harvard’s Society of Fellows to continue her outstanding research on the interstellar medium. She has been the scientific director of the
Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) since 2007.
Research
Van Dishoeck works on
interstellar molecule
A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that are held together by Force, attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions that satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemi ...
s; physical and
chemical
A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
evolution during
star formation
Star formation is the process by which dense regions within molecular clouds in interstellar space—sometimes referred to as "stellar nurseries" or "star-forming regions"—Jeans instability, collapse and form stars. As a branch of astronomy, sta ...
and
planet formation;
submillimeter
Submillimetre astronomy or submillimeter astronomy (see spelling differences) is the branch of observational astronomy that is conducted at submillimetre wavelengths (i.e., terahertz radiation) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Astronomers plac ...
and mid-
infrared astronomy
Infrared astronomy is a sub-discipline of astronomy which specializes in the astronomical observation, observation and analysis of astronomical objects using infrared (IR) radiation. The wavelength of infrared light ranges from 0.75 to 300 microm ...
; basic molecular processes; and the
radiative transfer of line and continuum radiation.
In 2021 she was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to study chemistry and physics in the planet-forming disks around stars other than the Sun.
She is the most
cited molecular astrophysicist in the world.
Impact
Ewine van Dishoeck’s work on astrochemistry was instrumental in answering how interstellar gas and dust can transform into living organisms. Life is dependent on carbon, and space has an abundance of this in the form of carbon monoxide. However, carbon monoxide could be broken up by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Because of stars in the galaxy, UV light was abundant to break up the carbon monoxide. At her PhD studies, no one was aware of how some carbon monoxide molecules could remain alive in space. In her lab research, Van Dishoeck set up interstellar cloud models; she compared her tests against actual observations. She concluded that carbon monoxide is not vulnerable to all UV light through her trials. It is only susceptible to the wavelengths that it can absorb. As completed by her and John Black, dust and other molecules can block UV light, leading to carbon monoxide protection. Her findings answered why some carbon monoxide molecules were able to survive long enough to contribute to living organisms.
Awards
Van Dishoeck was a Junior Fellow of the
Harvard Society of Fellows in 1984, where she worked with
Alex Dalgarno.
She was awarded the Gold Medal of the
Royal Netherlands Chemical Society in 1994, the
Spinoza Prize (Netherlands) in 2000, and the Bourke Award of the
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...
(UK) in 2001. Since 2001, she is a Member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences as well of the
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, 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 Nati ...
. In 2013, she became a member of the
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. She received the
Gothenburg
Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
Lise Meitner
Elise Lise Meitner ( ; ; 7 November 1878 – 27 October 1968) was an Austrian-Swedish nuclear physicist who was instrumental in the discovery of nuclear fission.
After completing her doctoral research in 1906, Meitner became the second woman ...
Award (Sweden) in 2014, and the
Albert Einstein World Award of Science (Mexico) in 2015. In 2018, Van Dishoeck was awarded the
James Craig Watson Medal (US) and the
Kavli Prize (Norway) for astrophysics. In the same year, she also has been elected an Honorary Member of the
Royal Netherlands Chemical Society. She was elected to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
and was awarded the
Prix Jules Janssen, both in 2020. In 2021
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
appointed her to the
Pontifical Academy of Sciences and she was also awarded the
Nick Kylafis Lectureship. In 2022 Van Dishoeck was awarded the
Fritz Zwicky Prize for Astrophysics and Cosmology and the
Niels Bohr International Gold Medal.
Personal life
Van Dishoeck is married to
Tim de Zeeuw,
a professor of astronomy at Leiden University who was Director General of the
European Southern Observatory from September 2007 to 2017.
References
External links
Professor van Dishoeck's homepage at Leiden Observatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dishoeck, Ewine Van
1955 births
Living people
Albert Einstein World Award of Science Laureates
20th-century Dutch astronomers
21st-century Dutch chemists
Dutch women chemists
Women astronomers
Harvard Fellows
Academic staff of Leiden University
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Science teachers
Spinoza Prize winners
Kavli Prize laureates in Astrophysics
20th-century Dutch chemists
Annual Reviews (publisher) editors
Dutch astrophysicists
Presidents of the International Astronomical Union