Reinhard Genzel (; born 24 March 1952) is a German astrophysicist, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, a professor at LMU and an emeritus professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He was awarded the 2020

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

"for the discovery of a supermassive compact object at the centre of our galaxy", which he shared with Andrea Ghez and

Roger Penrose Sir Roger Penrose (born 8 August 1931) is an English mathematician, mathematical physicist, Philosophy of science, philosopher of science and Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Laureate in Physics. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics i ...

. In a 2021 interview given to

Federal University of Pará The Federal University of Pará (, UFPA) is one of the Public university, public universities maintained by the Brazilian Federal government of Brazil, federal government in the States of Brazil, state of Pará. The university, with + 50,000 stude ...

in Brazil, Genzel recalls his journey as a physicist; the influence of his father, ; his experiences working with Charles H. Townes; and more.

Life and career

Genzel was born in

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Bad Homburg vor der Höhe (, ) is the district town of the Hochtaunuskreis, Hesse, Germany, on the southern slope of the Taunus mountains. Bad Homburg is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. The town's official name is ''Bad Homburg ...

, Germany, the son of Eva-Maria Genzel and Ludwig Genzel, a professor of

solid state physics Solid-state physics is the study of rigid matter, or solids, through methods such as solid-state chemistry, quantum mechanics, crystallography, electromagnetism, and metallurgy. It is the largest branch of condensed matter physics. Solid-state p ...

(1922–2003). He studied

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

and the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

, graduating in 1978 with a PhD in radioastronomy which he prepared at the

Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy The Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfRA) (German: ''Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie'') is located in Bonn, Germany. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (German: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft). History By com ...

.Curriculum-vitae
, website of the '' Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik'' Subsequently he worked at the Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. He was a Miller Fellow from 1980 until 1982, and also Associate and finally Full Professor in the Department of Physics at the

from 1981. In 1986, he left Berkeley to become a director at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in

Garching Garching bei München (, ''Garching near Munich'') or Garching is a city in Bavaria, near Munich. It is the home of several research institutes and university departments, located at Campus Garching. History Spatial urban planning Garching was ...

and Scientific Member of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. During that time he also lectured at

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where he has been Honorary Professor since 1988. From 1999 to 2016, he also had a part-time joint appointment as

Full Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a 'person who professes'. Professors ...

at the

. Additional activities include sitting on the selection committee for the Shaw Prize in astronomy.

Work

Reinhard Genzel studies infrared- and

submillimetre astronomy 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 ...

. He and his group are active in developing ground- and space-based instruments for astronomy. They used these to track the motions of stars at the centre of the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

, around

Sagittarius A* Sagittarius A*, abbreviated as Sgr A* ( ), is the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. Viewed from Earth, it is located near the border of the constellations Sagittarius and Scorpius, about 5.6° south o ...

, and show that they were orbiting a very massive object, now known to be a

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 ...

. Genzel is also active in studies of the formation and evolution of galaxies. In July 2018, Reinhard Genzel ''et al.'' reported that star S2 orbiting Sgr A* had been recorded at 7,650 km/s or 2.55% the speed of light leading up to the

pericentre An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

approach in May 2018 at about 120 AU ≈ 1400 Schwarzschild radii from Sgr A*. This allowed them to test the

redshift In physics, a redshift is an increase in the wavelength, and corresponding decrease in the frequency and photon energy, of electromagnetic radiation (such as light). The opposite change, a decrease in wavelength and increase in frequency and e ...

predicted by

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

at relativistic velocities, finding additional confirmation of the theory.

Awards

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

, 1973–1975 *

Miller Research Fellows 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 do ...

hip, 1980–1982 * Otto Hahn Medal, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, 1980 *

Presidential Young Investigator Award The Presidential Young Investigator Award (PYI) was awarded by the National Science Foundation of the United States Federal Government. The program operated from 1984 to 1991, and was replaced by the NSF Young Investigator (NYI) Awards and Preside ...

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 ...

, 1984 * Newton Lacy Pierce Prize,

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 ...

, 1986 * Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize,

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation ( ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2019, the DFG had a funding bu ...

, 1990 * De Vaucouleurs Medal,

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, 2000 * Prix Jules Janssen,

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the France, French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law (Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its ...

(French Astronomical Society), 2000 * Stern Gerlach Medal for

experimental physics Experimental physics is the category of disciplines and sub-disciplines in the field of physics that are concerned with the observation of physical phenomena and experiments. Methods vary from discipline to discipline, from simple experiments and o ...

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft The German Physical Society (German: , DPG) is the oldest organisation of physicists. As of 2022, the DPG's worldwide membership is cited as 52,220, making it one of the largest national physics societies in the world. The DPG's membership peaked ...

, 2003 *

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the b ...

for Infrared Astronomy, 2003 * Albert Einstein Medal, 2007 * Shaw Prize, 2008 * "Galileo 2000" Prize, 2009 * Dr. h.c.

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, 2010 * Karl Schwarzschild Medal, Deutsche Astronomische Gesellschaft, 2011 *

Crafoord Prize The Crafoord Prize () is an annual science prize established in 1980 by Holger Crafoord, a Swedish industrialist, and his wife Anna-Greta Crafoord following a donation to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is awarded jointly by the Acade ...

, Royal Swedish Academy, 2012 * Tycho Brahe Prize,

European Astronomical Society The European Astronomical Society (EAS) is a learned society, founded under the Swiss Civil Code in 1990, as an association to contribute and promote the advancement of astronomy in Europe, and to deal with astronomical matters at a European lev ...

, 2012 *

Pour le Mérite The (; , ), also informally known as the ''Blue Max'' () after German WWI flying ace Max Immelmann, is an order of merit established in 1740 by King Frederick II of Prussia. Separated into two classes, each with their own designs, the was ...

, 2013 * Dr. h.c.

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, 2014 *

Harvey Prize The Harvey Prize is an annual Israeli award for breakthroughs in science and technology, as well as contributions to peace in the Middle East granted by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Technion in Haifa. The prize has become a ...

, Technion Institute, Israel, 2014 * Herschel Medal,

Royal Astronomical Society The Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) is a learned society and charitable organisation, charity that encourages and promotes the study of astronomy, planetary science, solar-system science, geophysics and closely related branches of science. Its ...

, 2014 *

, 2020 * Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art, 2021 * Dr. h.c.

Grenoble Alpes University The (, ''Grenoble Alps University'', abbr. UGA) is a ''grand établissement'' in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 researchers. Established as the Univer ...

, 2023

Membership of scientific societies

* Fellow of 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 ...

, 1985 * Foreign member of the

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

(Institut de France), 1998 * Foreign member 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 ...

, 2000 * Member of the

Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (), in short Leopoldina, is the national academy of Germany, and is located in Halle (Saale). Founded on 1 January 1652, based on academic models in Italy, it was originally named the ''Academi ...

, 2002 * Senior member of the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2003 * Foreign member of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, 2011 *

Foreign member of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

of London, 2012 * Member of the

Pontifical Academy A pontifical academy is an academic honorary society established by or under the direction of the Holy See. Some were in existence well before they were accepted as "Pontifical." List There are ten Pontifical academies headquartered at the Vatic ...

, 2020

References

External links

Genzel's Homepage at MPE

Genzel's Profile at the MPG

The Balzan-Stiftung award

Black Holes and Galaxies 27 July 2009 – ANU podcast mp3 also available as video on youtube

Black Holes and Galaxies: Professor Reinhard Genzel – ANU TV on youtubeReinhard Genzel in Hyde Park Civilization on ČT24 1.7.2023 (moderator Daniel Stach)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Genzel, Reinhard 1952 births Albert Einstein Medal recipients Fellows of the American Physical Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Foreign members of the Royal Society German astrophysicists German Nobel laureates Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize winners Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Living people Members of the French Academy of Sciences Nobel laureates in Physics Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Studienstiftung alumni University of Bonn alumni University of California, Berkeley faculty Max Planck Institute directors Recipients of the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy