Dr. Zlatan Tsvetanov

Dr. Zlatan Tsevtanov is the program scientist for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer program at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. Tsvetanov received his bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria, and a doctorate degree from Moscow State University, Russia. His research interests are in the area of active galactic nuclei and related phenomena and space instrumentation. Before joining NASA Headquarters Tsvetanov was an associate research professor at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., and a member of the science team of the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. + Hi-res Image (500 KB)

Dr. Tim Heckman

Dr. Timothy Heckman is a professor in the department of physics & astronomy and is the director of the Center for Astrophysical Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. Heckman's focus of research is in galaxy evolution, with an emphasis on active galactic nuclei and starburst galaxies. He uses both ground-based and space-based telescopes to study the X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared and radio properties of the stars, gas and black holes in galaxies. Being an astronomer has been a lifelong dream for Heckman, who received his undergraduate degree in physics and astronomy at Harvard, Cambridge, Mass. and his doctorate from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has served on the faculty of the University of Maryland, in College Park, and as a member of the senior science staff of the Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md. + Hi-res Image (860 KB)

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Dr. Chris Martin

Dr. Chris Martin is the principal investigator of NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer mission, launched April 28, 2003. The project studies the universe in ultraviolet light. Martin earned his undergraduate degree in physics from Oberlin College in Ohio, and his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. His two doctoral dissertations involved successful experiments using ultraviolet instruments in space, one on a rocket and one on the Space Shuttle. Even then, Martin envisioned an ultraviolet survey from space of the entire sky. The mission, now called Galaxy Evolution Explorer, will help reveal how galaxies have formed and evolved throughout the history of the universe. In 1993, Martin left Columbia University in New York, to join the faculty at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. + Medium-res Image (200 KB)

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Dr. Alice Shapley

Dr. Alice Shapley is a Miller Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley. Her research is devoted to understanding how galaxies form in the early universe. She is particularly interested in the evolution of star-forming galaxies and the conditions in the surrounding intergalactic medium. Her research is primarily based on sensitive optical and infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations from both ground and space-based facilities. She earned a bachelors degree in astronomy and physics from Harvard, Cambridge, Mass. and her doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. In the fall of 2005, she will become an assistant professor of astronomy at Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. + Hi-res Image (900 KB)

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