Apjlab0ec7f3 EHT-image-of-M87-black-hole

Feryal Özel (born May 27, 1975) is a

Turkish American Turkish Americans () or American Turks are Americans of ethnic Turkish origin. The term "Turkish Americans" can therefore refer to ethnic Turkish immigrants to the United States, as well as their American-born descendants, who originate eith ...

astrophysicist born in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, specializing in the physics of compact objects and high energy astrophysical phenomena. As of 2022, Özel is the department chair and a professor at the

Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics The School of Physics is an academic unit located within the College of Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Georgia, United States. It conducts research and teaching activities related to physics at the undergraduate a ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. She was previously a professor at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, in the Astronomy Department and

Steward Observatory Steward Observatory is the research arm of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona (UArizona). Its offices are located on the UArizona campus in Tucson, Arizona (US). Established in 1916, the first telescope and building were ...

. Özel graduated ''summa cum laude'' from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering; historically Columbia School of Mines) is the engineering and applied science school of Columbia University, a private research university ...

and received her PhD at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with

Ramesh Narayan Ramesh Narayan (born 3 November 1959) is an Indian Hindustani classical music, classical vocalist, composer and music producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Ramesh began his initial training in Carnatic music and later mastered t ...

acting as Thesis advisor. She was a Hubble Fellow and member at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. She was a Fellow at the Harvard-Radcliffe Institute and a visiting professor at the

Miller Institute The Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science was established on the University of California, Berkeley, campus in 1955 after Adolph C. Miller and his wife, Mary Sprague Miller, made a donation to the university. It was their wish that the d ...

at UC Berkeley. Özel is widely recognized for her contributions to the field of

neutron star A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed Stellar core, core of a massive supergiant star. It results from the supernova explosion of a stellar evolution#Massive star, massive star—combined with gravitational collapse—that compresses ...

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

s, and

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. She is the Modeling lead and member of the

Event Horizon Telescope The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is a Astronomical interferometer, telescope array consisting of a global network of radio telescopes. The EHT project combines data from several very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) stations around Earth, wh ...

(EHT) that released the first image of a black hole. Özel received the Maria Goeppert Mayer award from 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 ...

in 2013 for her outstanding contributions to neutron star astrophysics. Özel has appeared on numerous TV documentaries including '' Big Ideas'' on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

and the ''

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

'' series in the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

. Along with Alexey Vikhlinin, Özel is the Science and Technology Definition Team Community Co-chair for the ''

Lynx X-ray Observatory The Lynx X-ray Observatory (''Lynx'') is a NASA-funded Large strategic science missions, Large Mission Concept Study commissioned as part of the National Academy of Sciences 2020 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. The concept study phas ...

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 ...

Large Mission Concept Study.

Education

The following list summarizes Prof. Özel's education path: * 1992 - Üsküdar American Academy, İstanbul, Turkey * 1996 - BSc in Physics and Applied Mathematics,

, New York City * 1997 - MSc in Physics,

Niels Bohr Institute The Niels Bohr Institute () is a research institute of the University of Copenhagen. The research of the institute spans astronomy, geophysics, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum mechanics, and biophysics. Overview The institute was foun ...

, Copenhagen * 2002 -

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Astrophysics,

, Cambridge, USA

Honors and awards

* Breakthrough Prize, 2020 * Chair, Astrophysics Advisory Committee (APAC), NASA, 2019 * Fellowship,

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

, 2016 * Visiting Miller Professorship,

University of California Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

, 2014 * Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, American Physical Society, 2013 * Fellowship, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies, 2012-2013 * Bart J. Bok Prize,

, 2010 * Lucas Award, San Diego Astronomy Association, 2010 * Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Foundation, 2007 * Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2002–2005 * Distinguished Scholar Award, Daughters of Atatürk Foundation, 2003 * Keck Fellowship,

, 2002 * Van Vleck Fellowship,

, 1999 * Kostrup Prize,

, 1997 * Niels Bohr Institute Graduate Fellowship, 1996–1997 * Applied Mathematics Faculty Award,

, 1996 * Fu Foundation Scholarship,

, 1994–1996 * Research Fellowship,

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

, 1995 * Turkish Health and Education Foundation Scholarship, 1992-1994

References

External links

"Big Ideas" Website (Resume)Personal webpage at the University of Arizona

* *
List of published articles according to NASA/ADS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozel, Feryal Georgia Tech faculty University of Arizona faculty American women astronomers Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Harvard University alumni Living people 1975 births Turkish women academics Academics from Istanbul People associated with CERN American astrophysicists American academics of Turkish descent Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics people Turkish astronomers Black holes Hubble Fellows Aspen Center for Physics people Fellows of the American Physical Society