Kaitlin Kratter and Josh Eisner, 2022 and 2020 winners of Blitzer Award, deliver joint lecture on protoplanets and protoplanetary disks - watch their talk here!
Dr. Joshua A. Eisner and Dr. Kaitlin Kratter are (respectively) the 2020 and 2022 winners of the Blitzer Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Physics and Related Sciences.
A ceremony was held on April 8th at Steward Observatory to honor the 2020 and 2022 Professor Leon and Pauline Blitzer Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Physics and Related Sciences winners, Dr. Joshua A. Eisner (2020) and Dr. Kaitlin Kratter (2022). Eisner and Kratter delivered a combined lecture titled "Protoplanets and Protoplanetary Disks: Observation and Theory." The lecture highlighted the important interplay between observational breakthroughs and computational progress in the search to understand the origins of our solar system.
You can watch their lecture here!
The Blitzer Award is given yearly to a faculty member with an established record of teaching excellence in one of the following four departments: Physics, Astronomy and the Steward Observatory, Hydrology and Atmospheric Sciences, and Planetary Sciences and the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. This award was established in 2006 by the Blitzer children, Mimi and Charles, to honor the memory of their parents. Prof. Blitzer began his nearly 70 years with the UA Physics Department as an undergraduate. He returned to UA in 1946 as an assistant professor of physics. In 1949, at age 33, he became the youngest full professor on campus. He personified the ideal professor with devotion to all aspects of the job - teaching, research and service.
Dr. Kratter—a professor in the Department of Astronomy, astronomer at Steward Observatory and affiliate of the Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Applied Mathematics—first came to Steward Observatory when she was offered a tenure track job. “UofA is one of the best places in the country to study planets and disks because we have such a dynamic group of people spread between two departments,” she said. “As a theorist, I also benefit from the collaborations promoted by TAP, which unites Steward, LPL, and physics. I enjoy teaching students from all three departments.”
Kratter conducts innovative theoretical studies of star and planet formation. Her work, supported by NASA, leverages large scale numerical simulations to help explain the origin of the diverse populations of multi-star systems and exoplanets in our galaxy.
“Exoplanet studies have burgeoned from a niche field to a major domain in astronomy, one that helps drive the next generation of instruments and telescopes,” said Kratter.
Of his astronomy journey, Dr. Eisner—a professor in the Department of Astronomy and astronomer at Steward Observatory—said, “I got into astrophysics in college. I took my first astronomy course from Bill Press (one of the authors of Numerical Recipes), and I discovered that I could apply math and physics to interesting astronomy problems.
“I’ve always wanted to work on difficult problems, and my research has tended to apply cutting edge, novel observational and data reduction techniques to astrophysics. My main scientific focus is planet formation, where high angular resolution, high contrast, and high spectral dispersion can all yield unique insights. However, I’ve also studied other topics, including black holes and evolved stars, when these techniques could probe new, previously unexplored parameter space.”
Eisner says that his proudest achievement in his time as a professor at U of A “has been watching my students and postdocs succeed in their work with me and in their subsequent careers.”