Dear Colleagues,

I'm thrilled to share that Abby Vieregg, Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the EFI, has been appointed the David N. Schramm Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics for a term beginning August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2025. I am confident that Abby will continue the great tradition of KICP leadership.

Rocky Kolb will continue as the David N. Schramm Director of KICP through the end of July. I extend my sincere appreciation to Rocky for his service and leadership as Director of KICP for the past three years.

Please join me in welcoming Abby in this role and thanking Rocky for his service.

All the best,

Angela

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Department members: Abigail G. Vieregg

Congratulations to Graduate student Abby Lee, who has been awarded the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) grant!

These grants support graduate student-designed and performed research projects that contribute to the NASA Science Mission Directorate's science, technology, and exploration goals. The fellowship provides three years of financial support for funding in the total amount of $150,000. Abby's proposal is "Measuring the Hubble Constant with Carbon Stars".

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Department students: Abigail Lee

Congratulations to Taylor Hoyt for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation on "The Tip of the Red Giant Branch and its Application to Measurements of the Hubble Constant".

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Department members: Wendy L. Freedman

Congratulations to Dimitrios Tanoglidis for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation on "Shedding light on the Low-Surface-Brightness Universe with Galaxy Surveys and Machine Learning".

Congratulations to Meng-Xiang Lin for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation on "Seeking Solutions for the Hubble Tension".

Dear Colleagues,

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Joshua A. Frieman, Professor, as chair of the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, effective July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2025. Josh has a strong track record of leadership and previously led the Dark Energy Survey and the Particle Physics Division at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. I want to extend my thanks to John Carlstrom for his service and leadership as chair over the past five years.

Please join me in congratulating Josh on this appointment, and thanking John for his service.

All the best,

Angela

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Department members: Joshua A. Frieman

I am pleased to report that Rebecca Diesing will receive William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowships!

The award is one of the University of Chicago's highest honors and is given in recognition of outstanding achievement and professional promise.

Rebecca's dissertation is on the acceleration and astrophysical impact of galactic cosmic rays, supervised by Damiano Caprioli.

Please join me in congratulating Rebecca.

- John E. Carlstrom,
Chair, Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Department students: Rebecca Diesing

I am pleased to report that Adina Feinstein will receive William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship!

The award is one of the University of Chicago's highest honors and is given in recognition of outstanding achievement and professional promise.

Adina's dissertation is on a multi-wavelength investigation of young stellar and planetary systems, supervised by Jacob Bean.

Please join me in congratulating Adina.

- John E. Carlstrom,
Chair, Astronomy and Astrophysics

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Department members: Jacob L. Bean
Department students: Adina Feinstein

Congratulations to Rostom Mbarek for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation on "Particle Acceleration, Propagation, and Detection: A Journey from the Kinetic Structure of Plasma Physics to Particle Transport on Cosmic Scales".

Prof. Emeritus James W. Truran, who helped lay the foundations for our understanding of how virtually all elements of the universe were created in stellar explosions, died March 5. He was 81.

"Jim was a pioneer with an astounding breadth and depth of knowledge in nuclear astrophysics; but he was also an incredibly kind and friendly colleague and mentor," said Donald Lamb, the Robert A. Millikan Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Astronomy and Astrophysics at UChicago and a close friend and colleague of Truran's for decades. "He was a true treasure."

Professor Emeritus Richard Kron in the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics has been named 2022 American Astronomical Society Fellows. The AAS Fellows program was established in 2019 to recognize AAS members for their contributions toward the Society's mission of enhancing and sharing humanity's scientific understanding of the universe.

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Department members: Richard G. Kron

Professor Hsiao-Wen Chen in the University of Chicago Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics has been named 2022 American Astronomical Society Fellows. The AAS Fellows program was established in 2019 to recognize AAS members for their contributions toward the Society's mission of enhancing and sharing humanity's scientific understanding of the universe.

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Department members: Hsiao-Wen Chen