Irwin I. Shapiro

Irwin I. Shapiro is an American astrophysicist. Since 1982, he has been a professor at Harvard University. ] Shapiro was director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 1982 to 2004 [cite news|url=http://www.hno.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/10.15/Harvard-Smithso.html| title=Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Celebrates 25 Years |publisher=Harvert University Gazette |date=1998-10-15 |accessdate=2007-02-26 ] [cite news| url=http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/05.20/01-alcock.html |title=Alcock to lead the CfA |publisher=Harvert University Gazette |date=2004-05-20 |accessdate=2007-02-26 ] .

Biography

Irwin Shapiro was born in New York City. Shapiro did an undergraduate in mathematics at Cornell University, and a master's and PhD in physics at Harvard University. Shapiro joined MIT Lincoln Laboratory in 1954 and became a professor of physics at MIT in 1967. In 1982, Shapiro became a professor at Harvard University and also director of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Irwin won the Charles A. Whitten Medal from the American Geophysical Union in 1991. In 1997, he became the First Timken University Professor.

Shapiro's research includes using gravitational lenses to assess the age of the universe.

Honors

Awards
*Dirk Brouwer Award of the AAS's Division on Dynamical Astronomy (1988)
*Charles A. Whitten Medal of the American Geophysical Union (1991)Named after him
*The Shapiro time delay, discovered by Shapiro in 1964

References

External links

* [http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/hco/astro/people/homepages/shapiro.html Irwin I. Shapiro's homepage]