Dr. Jon Morse, Astrophysics Division Director
Dr. Morse received his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of North Carolina in 1992, after which he joined the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, MD, as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1995 he became a research associate at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, where he played a lead role in the development of the Near-Infrared Camera and Fabry-Perot Spectrometer now in use at the Apache Point 3.5 meter telescope in New Mexico. From 1997-2003 he was Project Scientist of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph that will be installed on the Hubble Space Telescope in 2008. From 2000-2003 he was the Associate Director for the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy. Between 2003-2005 Dr. Morse was an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Arizona State University where he was involved in research and he taught. In 2005 he joined NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center as a Senior Astrophysicist in the Laboratory for Observational Cosmology.
Dr. Morse is known for his research on diverse topics in both galactic and extragalactic astronomy, using observations made at visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, and infrared wavelengths from space-based and ground-based facilities. He has led space mission and instrumentation concept studies designed to investigate dark energy, galaxy assembly, the origin of the elements, the formation of stellar and planetary systems, and extrasolar planets. He has authored or co-authored over 60 refereed publications on studies of star formation, high-mass stars, supernovae and supernova remnants, and active galaxies, as well as dozens of scientific and technical white papers and conference proceedings.
In addition to his scientific endeavors, Dr. Morse also has an interest in space policy. He served on the Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy of the American Astronomical Society during 2004-2005. In 2006-2007, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President.
In April 2007, Dr. Morse became the Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters. Dr. Morse now manages over twenty flight projects including such missions as Hubble, Chandra, Spitzer, and Fermi as well as future missions like JWST and WISE. The Division also funds peer-reviewed research to study the origin and evolution of planets, stars and galaxies, including such phenomena as supernovae, neutron stars and black holes.