Society awards Gunn its highest honor

By Steven Schultz on Feb. 2, 2005, 6:39 p.m.

The American Astronomical Society has awarded its highest honor, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, to Princeton astrophysicist James Gunn for "a lifetime of eminence in astronomical research."

The society cited Gunn for his "contributions to observational, instrumental and theoretical astrophysics that have informed our understanding of the universe and a large fraction of its contents." Among specific contributions, the society noted Gunn's founding concept for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the most comprehensive mapping and cataloging of stars, galaxies and quasars ever undertaken.

Recipients of the honor are invited to give a lecture dealing with a broad astronomical field at a meeting designated by the governing council of the astronomical society. Expenses and arrangements for publication of the lecture are covered by the society. Gunn, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy, joined the Princeton faculty in 1968. 

Related Stories

Gunn, Peebles to receive Crafoord Prize .

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has chosen Princeton astrophysicists James Gunn and James Peebles to receive the 2005 Crafoord Prize, a rare honor in their field.

Gunn wins National Medal of Science .

James Gunn, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy at Princeton University, has been chosen to receive a National Medal of Science, the nation's highest scientific honor, for his sweeping contributions to modern stargazing, from theory to observation to gadget-building.

Princeton astrophysicist James Gunn wins Kyoto Prize .

James Gunn, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Astronomy, Emeritus, and professor of astrophysical sciences, has been named a recipient of the Kyoto Prize.

Gunn awarded major cosmology prize .

Princeton astophysicist James Gunn has been awarded the 2005 Cosmology Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation, which honors groundbreaking contributions in the field of cosmology.

Paczynski wins astronomical society's highest honor .

Princeton astrophysicist Bohdan Paczynski has been awarded the American Astronomical Society's highest honor, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, in recognition of "a lifetime of eminence in astronomical research."

Neta Bahcall wins preeminent astronomy award, the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship .

The honor cites her ‘lifetime of eminence in astronomical research.’

Sloan team on a quest for the universe's 'rare birds' .

High on a forested New Mexico peak sits a metallic box whose appearance calls to mind a large air-conditioning unit, or a cargo container lifted from a ship's hold. It is perhaps appropriate that the Sloan Digital Sky Survey telescope looks unorthodox when compared to the other telescopes at the Apache Point Observatory, for the Sloan has done a great deal to change our understanding of what the universe looks like.