Gibor Basri
Dept. of Astronomy (MC3411)
Univ. of California
Berkeley, CA 94720
Born: May 3, 1951. Hometown: Ft. Collins, CO. Married, 1 son
Postdoctoral Fellow, Univ. of California, 1979-81
Assistant Research Astronomer, Univ. of California, 1981-82
Assistant Professor, Univ. of California, 1982-1987
Associate Professor, Univ. of California, 1988-1994
Professor, Univ. of California, 1994-
Acting Chair, Astronomy Department, 2006-2007
Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion, UC Berkeley Campus
Ph.D, Fall, 1979
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder
Specialization: Astrophysics
Thesis Title: Supergiant Chromospheres
B.Sc., Spring, 1973
Stanford University
Major: Physics
National Merit Scholar, 1969
Bausch and Lomb Science Medal, 1969
Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1979
Chabot Observatory ``Achievement in Science" Citation
1996
Miller Research Professorship 1997-98
Sigma Xi Distinguished Lectureship 1999-2000
NASA Faculty Fellowship, Ames Research Center, 2002
Chancellor's Community Service Award, 2003
Invited Plenary Lecture ("Brown Dwarfs: Up Close and Physical"),
American Astronomical Society, 2004
Chancellor's Award for Advancing Institutional Excellence
2006
International Astronomical Union
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
National Society of Black Physicists
IUE Peer Review Panel, NASA, 1984,1986,1988
Time Assignment Committee, Lick Observatory, 1984-1988
Management Operations Working Group, Space Astronomy Division, NASA, 1984-87
HIRES Spectrograph Science Working Group, 10-M Keck Telescope, 1989-1991
NASA Theory Program Review, 1990
NSF Stellar Program Review, 1991, 1998
IUE Users Group, 1992-1994
UC Observatories Advisory Committee, 1992-1995
NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowships Review Panel 1994-1995
Time Assignment Committee, UC Observatories, 1994-1998
NIRSPEC Science Working Group, 10-M Keck Telescope, 1994-1997
NASA MidEX Review Panel 1998
Chair, AAS Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy 1999-2001
Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship Review Committee 2005
Advisor, Professional Development Program 1983-1992
Working with programs to encourage minority high school students to excel in math-based fields at Berkeley. Development and national dissemination of techniques for accomplishing this.
Project ASTRO participant 1993-1995
Astronomical Society of Pacific program to connect astronomers with primary and secondary school teachers. Classroom visitations and lectures.
Advisor, Chabot Observatory and Science Center 1994-1995
Participation and chair of planning committees for new COSC building and programs. Participation and lectures in various COSC programs for the public and on public television.
Astronomy expert on a number of television science programs
Numerous Public Lectures
Board Member, "I Have a Dream, Oakland" Foundation 1998-2006
Foundation which is followed a 3rd grade class from a West Oakland school all the way through high school. Conducted academic year tutoring and enrichment, and summer programs. Followed all the families and help the student through difficulties. Also became a "Gear Up" program with more students. All students were offered college or vocational school assistance after high school.Graduation rate almost tripled and more than 70% of graduates went on to higher education (including Berkeley and Harvard).
Board Member, Chabot Space and Science Center 1998-
The new incarnation of the Chabot Observatory, which has been serving Oakland since 1883. This is now a $65M facility in the Oakland Hills, with 3 telescopes (among the largest public ones), a state-of-the-art planetarium, and megadome theater. Its primary function is to enhance science education in the Bay Area, and it holds a lot of classes, teacher training, and other educational functions. It also has some exhibits, aimed at using Astronomy as the gateway to Science.
Co-Investigator, Kepler Mission(NASA), 2001-
This mission will launch a 1-meter telescope (perhaps in 2006) whose purpose is to detect transits caused by terrestrial planets around other stars. It will watch 100,000 stars continuously (every 15 minutes) for at least 4 years, with a photometric precision of one part in 50,000. It should see all the inner planets whose orbital planes cause eclipses for us, and also reflected light from giant inner planets. It is capable of finding "true Earth analogs" (planets with 1 Earth mass in 1 year orbits around Sun-like stars). My role in the project is to understand the photometric variations caused by the stars themselves - this will be a huge collateral windfall of stellar science which is a natural side-effect of the main mission.