Rate My Professor Ronald Marzke

Ronald Marzke has served on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at San Francisco State University since 2000 as Professor in Physics and Astronomy. He completed his B.S. at Arizona State University in 1987, M.A. at Harvard University in 1988, and Ph.D. in Astronomy at Harvard University in 1994, advised by John Huchra. In his current role as Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering, Marzke is on leave from the department and based in Thornton Hall 323 with phone 415-338-2955 and email marzke@sfsu.edu. While Associate Dean, he does not supervise new research students.

Marzke specializes in extragalactic astronomy, with research encompassing galaxy evolution, luminosity functions, early-type galaxy formation, and globular cluster populations. Key publications include 'The z~1.2 Galaxy Luminosity Function from The LCIR Survey' (2001), which derived the galaxy luminosity function at high redshift using photometric techniques; 'When do early-type galaxies form?' (2006), exploring formation redshifts; and 'The Relative Ages of the Globular Cluster Subpopulations in M87' (2003, The Astrophysical Journal), analyzing metal-poor and metal-rich clusters. He contributed to the Gemini Deep Deep Survey, detailing red galaxy properties in 'Star-Forming, Recently Star-Forming, and “Red and Dead” Galaxies from the Gemini Deep Deep Field' (2005). Marzke has delivered public lectures such as 'News from the Distant Past: How Galaxies Tell Their Stories' for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's Silicon Valley Lecture Series. Administratively, he organizes the COSE Student Project Showcase and participated in the college's Anti-Racism Task Force, finalizing its report in 2022.