Ronald David Ekers (born 18 September 1941) FRS

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

is an Australian

radio astronomer Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies Astronomical object, celestial objects at radio frequency, radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone La ...

. His fields of specialty include the study of

active galactic nuclei An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the center of a galaxy that has a much-higher-than-normal luminosity over at least some portion of the electromagnetic spectrum with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not prod ...

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosophe ...

, and radio astronomy techniques. Ron Ekers was born in

Victor Harbor, South Australia Victor Harbor is a town in the Australian state of South Australia located within the City of Victor Harbor on the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula, about south of the state capital of Adelaide. The town is the largest population centre o ...

. He showed interest in astronomy at a young age. Ron Ekers graduated from the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

in 1963 and received his PhD in astronomy at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

(ANU) in 1967. His postdoctoral supervisor at ANU was the astronomer

John Gatenby Bolton John Gatenby Bolton (5 June 1922 – 6 July 1993) was a British-Australian astronomer who was fundamental to the development of radio astronomy. In particular, Bolton was integral in establishing that discrete radio sources were either galaxi ...

. After graduating from ANU, his first postdoctoral studies were performed at

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, during which time

Richard P. Feynman Richard Phillips Feynman (; May 11, 1918 – February 15, 1988) was an American theoretical physicist, known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics, the physics of the superflu ...

and

Fred Hoyle Sir Fred Hoyle FRS (24 June 1915 – 20 August 2001) was an English astronomer who formulated the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis and was one of the authors of the influential B2FH paper. He also held controversial stances on other sc ...

were active. He was director of the

Very Large Array The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is a centimeter-wavelength radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, between the towns of Magdalena and Datil, ~ west of Socorro. The VLA comprises twent ...

(VLA) from 1980 until 1987. From 1988 to 2003 he was Foundation Director of

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

Australia Telescope National Facility The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)'s radio astronomy observatories are collectively known as the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF), with the facility supporting Australia's research in radio astrono ...

. In 2002 he was awarded a prestigious

Federation Fellowship Federation Fellowships are Australian professorial research fellowships that were instigated by the Australian Government as part of its Backing Australia's Ability initiative. They were initially designed to compete with prestigious overseas gra ...

. He is a past President of the

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

(IAU) (2003–2006) and a member of the Advisory Board for the Peter Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize.

Honours and awards

He was elected a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal So ...

, a Foreign Member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1993, a Foreign Member of the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...

in 2003, a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

in 2005, and a Foreign Associate of the US

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 Nat ...

in 2018. *2014 Grote Reber Gold Medal for innovative and significant contributions to radio astronomy *2005

Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture The Matthew Flinders Medal and Lecture of the Australian Academy of Science is awarded biennially to recognise exceptional research by Australian scientists in the physical sciences. Nominations can only be made by Academy Fellows. Recipients Sourc ...

*1993 Centenary Medal (Australia)

References

External links

Ron Ekers' homepageInterview for the Australian Astronomers Oral History Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekers, Ronald 1941 births Living people 20th-century Australian astronomers Australian National University alumni Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science Officers of the Order of Australia Australian Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society 21st-century Australian astronomers Presidents of the International Astronomical Union