Biography:Judith Young (astronomer)

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Short description: American physicist
Judith Young
Born
Judith Rubin
DiedMay 23, 2014(2014-05-23) (aged 61)
Alma mater
  • Harvard University
  • University of Minnesota
AwardsMaria Goeppert-Mayer Award
Scientific career
FieldsAstronomy

Judith Young (née Rubin; September 15, 1952 – May 23, 2014)[1] was an American physicist, astronomer,[2] and educator. The American Physical Society honored Young with the first Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award for being the best young physicist in the world in 1986.[3][4][5] Astronomer Nick Scoville of CalTech writes of her research: "Her pioneering galactic structure research included some of the earliest mapping of CO emission in galaxies followed by the most extensive surveys molecular gas and star formation in nearby galaxies."[6]

Career

Young received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Astronomy from Harvard University and graduated with Honors.[7][8] She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota.[8]

Young began a postdoctoral fellowship at UMass in 1979, collaborating with Nick Z. Scoville in a study which measured the cold gas and carbon monoxide content of galaxies.[5] The pair made the discovery that the distribution of light and gas is proportional in galaxies.[5] The American Astronomical Society awarded her the Annie J. Cannon Prize for this work in 1982.[3][5]

Young became an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1985.[7] In 1989, Young was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and became a Full Professor in 1993.[7] She published more than 130 papers, mentored 5 Ph.D. candidates, and supervised 15 undergraduate research projects.[8]

Young is perhaps best known for her Sunwheel project.[9] Young's goal for this project was to bring astronomy down to earth and to an empty lot behind the football stadium at the UMass-Amherst campus.[8][9] In addition to her academic work, Young volunteered on the UMass campus and in her local community.[7][8]

Personal life

Young was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of astronomer Vera Rubin and mathematical biophysicist Robert Rubin.[10][11]

She was married to Michael Young from 1975 to 1990[12] and had a daughter, Laura.[4]

Judith Young died from complications resulting from multiple myeloma, a disease she lived with for 8 years.[4][13]

References

  1. ↑ "Bio". http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=libraryscience. 
  2. ↑ Larsen, Kristine (23 July 1928). "Vera Cooper Rubin". http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rubin-vera-cooper. Retrieved 1 July 2016. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Oakes, E.H. (2007). Encyclopedia of World Scientists. Facts on File Science Library. Facts On File, Incorporated. p. 792. ISBN 978-1-4381-1882-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=uPRB-OED1bcC&pg=PA792. Retrieved 1 July 2016. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Maria Goeppert Mayer Award". 1 July 2016. http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/awards/goeppert-mayer.cfm. Retrieved 1 July 2016. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Obituary: Judy Young, Astronomer Who Built Campus Sunwheel". 28 May 2014. http://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/obituary-judy-young-astronomer-who-built. Retrieved 1 July 2016. 
  6. ↑ Teske, Richard G. (23 May 2014). "Judith S. Young (1952 – 2014)". https://aas.org/obituaries/judith-s-young-1952-2014. Retrieved 1 July 2016. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Obituary: Judy Young, Astronomer Who Built Campus Sunwheel". Office of News & Media Relations | UMass Amherst. https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/obituary-judy-young-astronomer-who-built. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 "Judith S. Young (1952 – 2014) | American Astronomical Society". https://aas.org/obituaries/judith-s-young-1952-2014. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "A Megalith for the Millennium » American Scientist". http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/a-megalith-for-the-millennium. 
  10. ↑ "Vera Rubin – The Gruber Foundation". http://gruber.yale.edu/cosmology/vera-rubin. Retrieved December 26, 2016. 
  11. ↑ Sullivan, Patricia (2008-02-05). "Robert J. Rubin, 81; Scientist Whose Work Combined Disciplines" (in en-US). ISSN 0190-8286. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020403043.html. 
  12. ↑ Gardner, Sue Ann, "Judith Sharn Young" (1997). Faculty Publications, UNL Libraries. 115.https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/115
  13. ↑ "Judith S. Young (1952 – 2014) | American Astronomical Society" (in en). https://aas.org/obituaries/judith-s-young-1952-2014. 




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