Andrea Ghez

Andrea Ghez (June 16, 1965 – present) is an American astrophysicist and professor at UCLA who won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics for her discovery of a supermassive compact object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Born in New York City, Ghez earned her Ph.D. in astrophysics and has spent her career studying the dynamics and composition of galaxies. Her groundbreaking work involved using adaptive optics technology and infrared observations to track the orbits of stars near the galactic center, ultimately providing conclusive evidence for the existence of the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A*. Her research fundamentally advanced our understanding of black holes and galactic structure. Ghez was only the fourth woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physics, making her achievement particularly significant in highlighting women's contributions to science. She has mentored numerous students and remains an active researcher at UCLA, continuing to push the boundaries of observational astrophysics. Her work has profound implications for cosmology and our understanding of the universe.