Debra Meloy Elmegreen
Dr. Debra Meloy Elmegreen writes "I
was born in South Bend, Indiana, and grew up in
Fairfax, Virginia. I got an A.B. in Astrophysics
from Princeton, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy
from Harvard. I was a Carnegie Postdoctoral Fellow
at the (formerly named) Hale Observatories in Pasadena,
and then an IBM visiting scientist. I have been
on the Vassar College faculty since 1985, and am
Professor of Astronomy holding the Maria Mitchell
Chair.
"The skies were very dark in Indiana, and
my fascination with astronomy began when I got a
telescope in first grade. My life-long love of the
heavens developed into my profession automatically
from those early star-gazing days. Science fair
projects in astronomy throughout high school fanned
my interest, as well as undergraduate summers as
a research assistant at Kitt Peak and at Arecibo.
"In those rare moments of total quiet with
a dark sky, I again feel the awe that struck me
as a child. The feeling is utterly overwhelming
as my mind races out across the stars. I feel peaceful
and serene.
"I enjoy observing galaxies at optical, infrared,
and radio wavelengths, and hope to contribute more
to the understanding of star formation and structure
in galaxies. I have written an undergraduate textbook
on "Galaxies and Galactic Structure,"
published last year by Prentice Hall. I enjoy involving
my undergraduates in my research to give them a
sense of the scientific endeavor.
"My husband, Bruce, is also an astronomer
(and involved in this project too). We met at Princeton
when I was an undergraduate and he was a graduate
student. Our teen-age children often accompanied
us to AAS meetings or observatories when they were
young. During our spare time we...what spare time??"
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