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Joshua Simon Bloom (born June 8, 1974 in Washington, D.C.) is an American astrophysicist, chair and professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, and was the CTO and co-founder of the machine-learning compan
wise.io
(acquired by General Electric, 2016). He received a Bachelor of Arts in astronomy and
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...
and physics from the Harvard College in 1996, an M.Phil from Cambridge University in 1997, and a PhD in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 2002. He was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows from 2002 to 2005. His astronomy research focuses on gamma-ray bursts and other astrophysical transients such as
supernova A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last evolutionary stages of a massive star or when ...
e and tidal disruption events. He is author of the book ''What Are Gamma-Ray Bursts?'' published by Princeton University Press in 2011.


Research

In 2009, ScienceWatch wrote that Bloom's gamma-ray bursts "work ranks at No. 10 by total cites, based on 85 papers cited a total of 3,639 times. Five of these papers are on the lists of the 20 most-cited papers over the past decade and over the past two years." He has published over 300 refereed articles and was principal investigator of the Peters Automated Infrared Telescope (PAIRITEL) at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona. He is also principal investigator of the Synoptic Infrared Survey Telescope (SASIR). Project and was co-chair of the transients and variable star group of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Some of Bloom's current work focuses on the
classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...
of astrophysical transients using machine-learning techniques. He suggested that GRB 110328A was due to a new class of relativistic outflow events from tidal disruption of a star by a massive
black hole A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravitation, gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other Electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts t ...
.


Honors and awards

Bloom was awarded the Herchel Smith Harvard Scholarship to Cambridge University in 1996, and was a Hertz Foundation Fellow at the California Institute of Technology. In 2006, Bloom was named as a Sloan Research Fellow by the
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...
. In 2008, he was included as one of Astronomy magazine's ten "rising stars."National magazines tout two chemists and two astronomers as top innovators in their fields"
, University of California Newsroom, Berkeley, CA, August 22, 2008.
In 2009, he was awarded the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy from 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 2010, he was named as the ''
Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...
and Tycho Brahe Visiting Professor'' at Copenhagen University. He was awarded the Faculty Research Award from Two Sigma in 2019. He is the Co-Creator of the
VOEvent VOEvent is a standardized language used to report observations of astronomical events; it was officially adopted in 2006 by the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). Though most VOEvent messages currently issued are related to superno ...
messaging scheme for astronomical transients.


Teaching

Bloom teaches astronomy to graduate and undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to astronomy-centric courses, he teaches the "Python Computing for Data Science" graduate course, aimed at PhD students in data-rich fields. Some of his lectures are available to the public as podcasts and video streams ( Python class).


Tennis

Bloom held an International Tennis Federation 45+ Masters Tour Singles Ranking of 993 in 2021 and in September 2022 was ranked 273 in the United States Tennis Association Men's 45 National Standings List for Singles.


References


External links


Joshua Bloom homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Joshua Living people 1974 births Harvard College alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty Sloan Research Fellows