Andrea Ghez

Andrea M. Ghez is a distinguished professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she holds the Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Chair in Astrophysics. A leader in Space Science, she has been a faculty member since 1994 and serves as director of the UCLA Galactic Center Group. Ghez received her B.S. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1992. Her research specializes in observational astrophysics, employing cutting-edge high spatial resolution imaging techniques—such as adaptive optics and interferometry—to study star formation near the Galactic Center and probe the properties of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*.

Through meticulous observations with the W. M. Keck Observatory's telescopes since 1995, Ghez and her team have tracked the orbits of stars, including the famous S2 star, providing irrefutable evidence for a supermassive black hole with a mass of four million times that of the Sun at the Milky Way's core. This seminal work earned her the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics, shared with Reinhard Genzel. Ghez has published over 100 refereed papers, including key contributions like "High Proper-Motion Stars in the Field of Sagittarius A*: Evidence for a Supermassive Black Hole at the Galactic Center" (1998, The Astrophysical Journal) and "Stellar Orbits around the Galactic Center Black Hole" (2005, The Astrophysical Journal). Her accolades include the Crafoord Prize (first woman recipient), MacArthur Fellowship, Bakerian Medal from the Royal Society, and election to the National Academy of Sciences and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ghez has also served on advisory committees for NASA, NSF, and the National Academies, and delivered over 200 invited lectures, features in textbooks, documentaries, and science exhibits.

Professional Email: ghez@astro.ucla.edu