School hosts Nobel Laureate and astrophysicist Andrea Ghez

By A lden Detmer and M ejo Liao

e Kutler Center hosted the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics winner Andrea Ghez (Evan ’19, Miles ’24) as the 2022-2023 Scholar in Residence March 14-16. Ghez spoke at community-wide events and visited numerous physics, journalism, business and various Kutler Center classes.

Ghez is a professor of Physics & Astronomy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Lauren B. Leichtman & Arthur E. Levine chair in Astrophysics. In 2020, she became the fourth woman to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics after discovering a supermassive black hole in the Milky Way’s galactic center.

e Scholar in Residence program, founded by Former Performing Arts Teacher Ted Walch, seeks to enhance students’ experiences by inviting scholars on campus for three days to share their expertise.

Ghez said she accepted the invitation to become the Scholar in Residence because it was a perfect opportunity to give back to the community.

“I’ve had two kids go through Harvard-Westlake and am super grateful for the amazing education that [my] kids get here,” Ghez said. “So, in some sense, this is my way of giving back. We can all have di erent ways of giving back, but this is a way in which I could do that in a meaningful way.”

Ghez, who attended the University of Chicago Lab School, said her love for astrophysics came from her high school science experience and motivated her to inspire today’s high schoolers.

“I’ve always felt really strongly about the importance of role models in terms of encouraging a more diverse set of scientists,” Ghez said. “High school is a really critical point for teens in their education. e main priority is continuing to open up your understanding of what’s possible. It’s really important for young [people] to see that scientists don’t always look the same. By the time I reached [the California Institute of Technology], there were very, very few women in physics, so it became really clear to me that [I needed] to commit to being a visible role model.”

At an HW Empower event on March 16, Ghez spoke to students about working in a male-dominated eld. Rheanna Vradiy ’25 said Ghez inspired her to explore her interests, no matter what they are.

“I’m still deciding on what I want to do in college and I wanted to see in what direction she took her life with this particular interest,” Vradiy said. “I am interested in astrophysics, but I also just wanted to hear about a women’s perspective in a male-dominated eld.”

• Continued on hwchronicle.com