Andrea Ghez – Bio, Net Worth, Nobel Prize Winner, Husband, Age, Nationality, Physic, Story, Awards, Education, Books, Facts, Wiki, Height, Children

Andrea Ghez is a Nobel prize-winning American astronomer and professor who got recognition for studying the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Grez currently works in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angels(UCLA).

Ghez rose to fame after she got awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics on October 6, 2020, by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. She shares one-half of the prize with German astrophysicist, Reinhard Genzel, and the other half with Roger Penrose.

She became the fourth woman to be awarded Nobel Prize in Physics. They received the Nobel prize for their discovery of a supermassive compact object(Blackhole) named Sagittarius A* in the galactic center. Furthermore, her team also have been able to produce images of the galactic center of the Milky Way.

What is Andrea Ghez famous for?

• Famous as a Nobel-prize winning American astronomer and professor
• Known for studying the center of the Milky Way Galaxy (Galactic center)

Source: @koreanherald

Where is Andrea Ghez from?

Andrea Ghez was born on June 16, 1965, in New York City, New York, United States. Her birth name is Andrea Mia Ghez. American is her nationality. Her ethnicity is White. She belongs to Jewish and Catholic descent family. Gemini is her zodiac sign.

She was born to Gilbert Ghez(father) and Susanne Ghez(mother). Her father was born in Italy is originally from Tunisia while her mother is from North Attleborough.

She was raised in Chicago. As a child, she always wanted to know about heavenly bodies. Her interest to become an astronomer grew after she got inspired by The Apollo program’s Moon landings. Ghez did her schooling from a local high school in Chicago. Later, she attended the University of Chicago Lab School where she took a major in Physics.

She got graduated in 1987 with a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later, she moved to California where received a Ph.D. in 1992 from the California Institute of Technology. 

Source: @hsfoundation.org

Andrea Ghez Career: Highlights

• Andrea Ghez works as an astronomer and professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA.
• Her research involves using the adaptive optics system at the Keck telescopes.
• Her team is busy studying star-forming regions and the black hole at the center of the Milky Way called Sagittarius A*.
• They are using the Kinematics of stars near the center of the Milky Way to know more about this region.
• Ghez and her colleagues have been able to take the images of the Galactic center with the help of the W.M. Keck Telescope.
• Sagittarius A* has been one of the best-demonstrated cases for a supermassive black hole.
• On October 6, 2020, she shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with her colleagues Roger Penrose and Reinhard Genzel for their discoveries regarding the black holes in the galactic center.
• Furthermore, her group has been working and getting good results from their research on Sagittarius*.
• Before her research on Sagittarius A*, she got elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2004.
• She is a member of the American Physical Society(APS).
• The My Hero Project also identified her as a Science Hero.
• Ghez also has been part of the documentaries produced by organizations like “BBC”, “Discovery Channel”, and “The History Channel”.
• She got listed as one of the 20 scientists in the United States for their work in their respective fields by Discover Magazine in 2004.
• At present, she is very much focused on working in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA.
• As of now, her group is busy with their research focused on the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

 Andrea Ghez Awards and Achievement

• Andrea Ghez has won many awards in her career. 
• She won her first award “Annie J. Cannon Award” in Astronomy in 1994.
• In 1998, she won the Newton Lacy Pierce Prize in Astronomy of the American Astronomical Society. 
• She also won the Sackler Prize.
• Ghez was also has been awarded the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 2012.
• In 2015, she won the Royal Society Bakerian Medal for her work.
• Her other notable awards are “Gold Shield Faculty Prize”, “MacArthur Fellowship”, “Crafoord Prize”, and “Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Oxford”.
• Besides on October 6, 2020, she won her biggest award in her career “The Nobel Prize in Physics”.
• She was awarded by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences along with her two colleagues, Genzel and Penrose.
• Three of them shared the award for their notable discovery of a supermassive black hole in the galactic center of Milky Way.

Andrea Ghez Husband

Andrea Ghez is a married woman. She is married to her only husband, Tom LaTourrette.  LaTourrette is a geologist and research scientist at the RAND Corporation. The couple is blessed with two sons. She is living a happy life with her family in Los Angels. Furthermore, she loves to do swimming and is a member of the Masters’ Swim Club.

Andrea Ghez Net Worth

Andrea Ghez has made a good amount of money from her profession as an astronomer and professor. Having kicked off her career in the early 1990s, she has achieved great heights in her career. Along with the Nobel Prize, she shared a cash prize of $9 million with Genzel and Penrose. With her hard work, she has been able to amass a healthy net worth of $10 million as of 2020. She seems to be living a luxurious lifestyle with her earnings.

Andrea Ghez Height

Andrea Ghez is a beautiful woman in her mid-50s. She has a fair complexion with black hair and green eyes. She stands at a height of 5ft 6 inches and has a bodyweight of 67kg.