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Celebrating our community
from Contact 15
In this section we celebrate success and recognise colleagues, partners and members of the community who have received prestigious grants, awards and honours in recent months.
SKAO Director-General Prof. Philip Diamond was awarded a prestigious CBE in the UK New Year’s Honours in recognition of his services to global radio astronomy. Prof. Diamond received his medal from the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on 23 April.
SKAO Council Chair Dr Catherine Cesarsky was awarded the European Astronomical Society’s Fritz Zwicky Prize for Astrophysics & Cosmology, recognising her outstanding contributions to the understanding of galaxy evolution, and her leadership in shaping contemporary astronomy infrastructure.
Dr Phil Mjwara, who recently retired as director-general of the South African Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), received the South African Medical Research Council’s President’s Award for his “visionary leadership in promoting science in South Africa”. Dr Mjwara served in the post for 18 years, and was also South Africa’s representative on the SKAO Council until his retirement in March.
Dr Ann Njeri, a member of our VLBI Science Working Group and DARA Project alumna, has been awarded a L’Oréal-UNESCO for Women in Science UK and Ireland Rising Talent award The awards support women pursuing scientific research careers.
The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), one of the SKAO’s partners in Australia, has welcomed a new executive director following a comprehensive global search. Prof. Simon Ellingsen takes up the post from April 2024.
The UK’s Royal Astronomical Society annual awards included prizes for astronomers who participate in the SKAO’s Science Working Groups:
Prof. Leah Morabito (Durham University), chair of the UK SKA Science Committee, received the Fowler Award for pioneering work on ultrahigh definition imaging with SKA pathfinder LOFAR.
Prof. Ryan Shannon (Swinburne University) received the JacksonGwilt Medal with Dr Keith Bannister (CSIRO) for work on fast radio bursts with SKA precursor telescope ASKAP.
Prof. Pedro Ferreira (Oxford University) received the Eddington Medal for work on cosmological observations.
