{"658924":{"#nid":"658924","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel Named School of Physics Chair","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe College of Sciences is pleased to announce the appointment of Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel as chair of the School of Physics, effective August 2022.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel is a professor of astronomy and physics and associate dean for Research at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003EUniversity of Arizona\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/science.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Science\u003C\/a\u003E. Her research focuses on theoretical, computational, plasma, nuclear, and high energy astrophysics \u0026mdash; along with black holes, neutron stars, and high performance computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am delighted to join Georgia Tech, an institution with strong commitments to basic research, education, and societal impact,\u0026rdquo; \u0026Ouml;zel said. \u0026ldquo;I am looking forward to contributing to its continued growth and its thriving atmosphere.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Throughout the search process for our new chair, Feryal continually impressed me with her insights and vision,\u0026rdquo; said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/lozier.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESusan Lozier\u003C\/a\u003E, dean of the College of Sciences and Betsy Middleton and John Clark Sutherland Chair. \u0026ldquo;I am very much looking forward to working with her in the next few years to advance the teaching and research missions of the School.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I will also take this opportunity to extend my many thanks to the search committee and heartfelt gratitude to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cos.gatech.edu\/news\/michael-schatz-wins-2021-regents-teaching-excellence-online-teaching-award\u0022\u003EMike Schatz\u003C\/a\u003E for his leadership of the School since spring 2020,\u0026rdquo; Lozier added. \u0026ldquo;Mike has admirably steered the School as interim chair and I have appreciated the integrity, creativity, and commitment that he has consistently demonstrated.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERevealing the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA theoretical astrophysicist, \u0026Ouml;zel is also a founding member for the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/organization\u0022\u003EEvent Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration\u003C\/a\u003E, where she has led the Modeling and Analysis Group, and has served on the EHT Science Council since its inception.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn May 12 of this year, she led EHT\u0026rsquo;s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/youtu.be\/4Ws0iPDSqI4?t=587\u0022\u003Eunveiling of the first image\u003C\/a\u003E of the supermassive black hole located at the center of our Milky Way galaxy \u0026mdash; Sagittarius A* \u0026mdash; Sgr A* (pronounced \u0026quot;sadge-ay-star\u0026quot;) for short, which is four million times more massive than our Sun.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/eventhorizontelescope.org\/blog\/astronomers-reveal-first-image-black-hole-heart-our-galaxy\u0022\u003Elong-anticipated look at Sgr A*\u003C\/a\u003E was produced by a global research team using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes, with findings published in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/journal\/2041-8205\/page\/Focus_on_First_Sgr_A_Results\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe Astrophysical Journal Letters\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. According to EHT, the work provided \u0026ldquo;overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole, and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants\u0026rdquo; thought to reside at the center of most galaxies.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;We see a bright ring surrounding complete darkness, the telltale sign of a black hole,\u0026rdquo; \u0026Ouml;zel said. \u0026ldquo;Now, we can confirm we are looking directly at the point of no return.\u0026quot; As light is curved by the powerful gravity of the black hole, glowing gas creates a signature halo around a dark \u0026ldquo;shadow\u0026rdquo; central region. \u0026ldquo;It seems that black holes like doughnuts,\u0026rdquo; \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/05\/12\/science\/black-hole-photo.html\u0022\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel added\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel said she \u0026quot;fell in love\u0026quot; with Sgr A* two decades ago, while working on her dissertation as a graduate student at Harvard University. Back then, she wondered if we could actually glimpse a black hole directly \u0026mdash; and decided to take on the challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer arrival to Georgia Tech will also bring her research partner and spouse, Dimitrios Psaltis, to the School of Physics faculty. \u0026ldquo;I am very excited to be a part of the Georgia Tech community and help spearhead new initiatives in cutting-edge science and technology,\u0026rdquo; said Psaltis, a fellow astrophysicist and professor who chairs the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/tap.arizona.edu\/\u0022\u003ETheoretical Astrophysics Program\u003C\/a\u003E at the University of Arizona. Psaltis is also the founding Project Scientist of the EHT.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs early as the late 1990s, \u0026Ouml;zel and Psaltis worked together to explore the feasibility of taking a picture of Sgr A*. In 2012, they hosted the inaugural meeting of the Event Horizon Telescope in Tucson, which established the worldwide collaboration.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;Many of the early ideas came out of our research group, including the computational tools and infrastructure for the simulation library, as well as the proof of principle for testing Einstein\u0026rsquo;s theory,\u0026quot; said Psaltis, who is also principal investigator of the international\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/bhpire.arizona.edu\/?_ga=2.109643847.370979499.1651773714-1868685316.1638739730\u0022\u003E Black Hole Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) Project\u003C\/a\u003E. \u0026quot;Everything, from running the telescopes to analyzing the data, is a collective effort. Each one of us has their hands in basically everything, and we made it work.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMeet Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel \u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBorn and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel received her B.S. in physics and applied mathematics at Columbia University and her Ph.D. in 2002 at Harvard University. After completing a NASA Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study, \u0026Ouml;zel joined the University of Arizona faculty in 2005, where she has worked as a professor of astronomy and physics, and as associate dean for research in the College of Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe is co-investigator of the NASA Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) Mission and has twice earned the American Astronomical Society Bruno Rossi Prize (NICER and EHT collaborations), along with a number of honors including a joint \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/news.arizona.edu\/story\/3m-breakthrough-prize-goes-black-hole-hunters-including-ua-astrophysicists\u0022\u003EBreakthrough Prize in Physics\u003C\/a\u003E, and NSF Diamond Achievement Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIn 2016, \u0026Ouml;zel was named a Guggenheim Fellow, as well as a visiting professor and member of the Harvard University Black Hole Initiative. In 2017 she was honored as the Columbia University Annual Bishop Lecturer. She has also served as a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellow at Harvard University and as a Miller Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel is a member of the American Astronomical Society and an Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is past chair of the NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee and NASA Lynx X-ray Telescope Science and Technology Definition Team, and currently serves as an advisor of NANOGrav and the Miller Institute, as well as a member at Aspen Center for Physics.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026Ouml;zel and Psaltis enjoy running marathons and biking long distances together.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ELearn more about \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chem.arizona.edu\/people\/faculty\/feryal-ozel\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EFeryal \u0026Ouml;zel\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E and \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chem.arizona.edu\/people\/faculty\/dimitrios-psaltis\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003EDimitrios Psaltis\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbout Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/strong\u003E, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAstrophysicist Feryal \u0026Ouml;zel will chair the School of Physics, effective August 2022. The appointment will also bring Dimitrios Psaltis to the Georgia Tech Physics faculty.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Astrophysicist Feryal \u00d6zel will chair the School of Physics, effective August 2022. The appointment will also bring Dimitrios Psaltis to the Georgia Tech Physics faculty. "}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2022-06-15 20:53:59","changed_gmt":"2022-06-21 15:51:19","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2022-06-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2022-06-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"658925":{"id":"658925","type":"image","title":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655326554","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 20:55:54","changed":"1681392226","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:23:46","alt":"Feryal \u00d6zel, professor and chair of the School of Physics.","file":{"fid":"249771","name":"2022 05 12 Feryal Ozel - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":444816,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Feryal%20Ozel%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=aSRDE8Od"}},"658926":{"id":"658926","type":"image","title":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","body":null,"created":"1655327108","gmt_created":"2022-06-15 21:05:08","changed":"1681392301","gmt_changed":"2023-04-13 13:25:01","alt":"Dimitrios Psaltis, professor in the School of Physics at Georgia Tech.","file":{"fid":"249772","name":"2022 05 12 Dimitrios Psaltis - headshot.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":452646,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/2022%2005%2012%20Dimitrios%20Psaltis%20-%20headshot.jpg?itok=t3VXySCY"}}},"media_ids":["658925","658926"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"126011","name":"School of Physics"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"132","name":"Institute Leadership"},{"id":"150","name":"Physics and Physical Sciences"}],"keywords":[{"id":"190811","name":"Feryal \u00d6zel"},{"id":"190812","name":"Dimitrios Psaltis"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"},{"id":"4079","name":"astrophysics"},{"id":"173772","name":"supermassive black holes"},{"id":"10881","name":"black holes"},{"id":"173141","name":"Theoretical physics"},{"id":"408","name":"NASA"},{"id":"190813","name":"Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration"},{"id":"190814","name":"University of Arizona"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"},{"id":"39511","name":"Public Service, Leadership, and Policy"},{"id":"39541","name":"Systems"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter and Media Contact:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jess@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJess Hunt-Ralston\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nDirector of Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCollege of Sciences at Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jess@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}