Belinda Wilkes
Belinda J. Wilkes is a Senior Astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, and former director of the Chandra X-ray Center.[1]
Belinda J. Wilkes | |
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Wilkes in 2012 | |
Born | |
Nationality | England |
Alma mater | Wolverhampton Girls' High School, University of St. Andrews, University of Cambridge |
Occupation | Astrophysicist |
She was born in Staffordshire, England and grew up in Albrighton, Shropshire, attending Wolverhampton Girls' High School before studying Physics and Astronomy at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland followed by a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Cambridge, England. In 1982 she moved to the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory as a NATO postdoctoral fellow and in 1984 to SAO's High Energy Astrophysics Division.
Her research relates to multi-wavelength studies of quasars: galaxies containing super-massive black holes at their centers and the most luminous sources in the Universe.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
In 2020 she was named a fellow of the American Physical Society "for significant contributions to the understanding of active galactic nuclei, including their emission mechanisms and evolutionary pathways, and for innovative leadership of the Chandra X-ray Observatory".[9]
References
- "Dr. Belinda Wilkes Chosen to Lead the Chandra X-ray Center". Chandra.si.edu. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- Revealing the Universe: The Making of the Chandra X-ray Observatory By Wallace H. Tucker, Karen Tucker
- Reviews in Modern Astronomy, The Cosmic Circuit of Matter edited by Reinhard E. Schielicke
- Exploring the X-ray Universe By Frederick D. Seward
- NOAO Newsletter, Issues 69-72 The Observatories, 2002
- NOAO-NSO Newsletter, Issues 41-44 The Observatories, 1995
- National Optical Astronomy Observatories Newsletter, Issues 65-72
- BL Lac objects: proceedings of a workshop held in Como, Italy, September 20-23, 1988
- APS Fellow Archive, retrieved 2020-11-06