Henry Receives Award from German Foundation

Astronomer Pat Henry (left) traveled to Berlin to accept his Senior U.S. Scientist Research Award from the president of the Alexander von Humbolt Foundation, Professor Dr. Wolfgang Frühwald.

IfA astronomer J. Patrick Henry has received a Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Henry is internationally known for his work on cosmology, the study of the evolution of the universe as a whole. He is also a member of the International Science Working Group planning the use of the Japanese Space Agency’s ASTRO-E2 satellite, which will be launched in 2005.

Henry received his award on June 27 at a ceremony held at the Opernpalais, a small 300-year-old palace in the heart of Berlin. The award includes a monetary prize and an invitation to conduct research projects of his choosing at German research institutes for a period of up to 12 months.

Henry will spend four months during the summers of 2004 and 2005 at the Max Planck Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik in Garching Germany. He will collaborate with scientists in Garching on the analysis of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton X-ray Observatory.

Henry notes, “For most of human history we have wondered where the starry heavens came from and what will eventually happen to them. The scientific study of these questions is termed cosmology. Astronomy has entered what many think will be the golden age of cosmology because for the first time we can gather hard evidence that may lead to answers.”

The Humboldt Foundation grants awards annually to internationally recognized U.S. scholars in all fields. These research awards are intended to recognize the lifelong academic achievements of the awardees. The awards are granted on the basis of nominations by eminent German scholars.