Riccardo Giacconi

Curriculum Vitae

Education  
University of Milan
Milan, Italy
Doctorate in
Physics, 1954
   
Professional experience  
Assistant Professor of Physics
University of Milan
Milan, Italy
1954-1956
Research Associate (Fulbright Fellow)
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
1956-1958
Research Associate, Cosmic Ray Laboratory
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey
1958-1959
American Science & Engineering, Inc.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Senior Scientist
Member of the Board of Directors (1966-1973)
Executive Vice President (1969-1973)
1959-1973
Associate Director
High Energy Astrophysics Division
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1973-1981
Professor of Astronomy
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1973-1982
Principal Investigator on several NASA programs, including
SAS-A (UHURU)
SO-54 (SKYLAB)
HEAO-2 (“Einstein”)
AXAF Interdisciplinary Scientist (Chandra)
1960-1981

1986-

Director
Space Telescope Science Institute
Baltimore, Maryland
1981-1992
Professor of Astronomy
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
1981-1999
Chairman of the Board
Instituto Donegani
Italy
1987-1988
Professor of Physics and Astronomy
University of Milan
Milan, Italy
1991-1999
Director General
European Southern Observatory
Germany
1993-1999
President
Associated Universities, Inc.
Washington, DC
1999-
Research Professor
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
1999-
   
Honors
Fulbright Fellow, 1956-1958
Helen B. Warner Award of the American Astronomical Society, 1966
Como Prize of the Italian Physical Society, 1967
Röntgen Prize in Astrophysics for 1971 of the Physikalisch-Medizinische Gesellschaft, Würzburg, Germany, 1971
NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, 1971
NASA Distinguished Public Service Award, 1972
NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, 1980
Elliott Cresson Medal of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 1980
Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 1981
Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, AAS/AIP, 1981
Henry Norris Russell Lecturer of the American Astronomical Society for 1981
Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 1982
The A. Cressy Morrison Award in Natural Sciences, The New York Academy of Sciences, 1982
Wolf Prize in Physics, 1987
Nobel Prize in Physics, 2002
 
Honorary degrees
Honorary Doctor of Science, The University of Chicago, 1983
Laurea Honoris Causa in Astronomia, The University of Padua, 1984
Honorary Doctor of Science, University of Warsaw, 1996
Laurea Honoris Causa in Physics, University of Rome, 1998
Honorary Doctor of Technology and Science, University of Uppsala, Sweden, 2000
 
Academies
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow
National Academy of Sciences, Member
Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Foreign Member
The Royal Astronomical Society, Associate
American Philosophical Society, Member
Max-Planck Society, External Member
 
Memberships
American Astronomical Society
American Association for the Advancement of Science, Fellow
American Physical Society, Fellow
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Cosmos Club

From Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 2002, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 2003

This CV was written at the time of the award and later published in the book series Les Prix Nobel/Nobel Lectures. The information is sometimes updated with an addendum submitted by the Laureate. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.

 

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2002

To cite this section
MLA style: Riccardo Giacconi – Curriculum Vitae. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Fri. 22 Nov 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/2002/giacconi/cv/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.

Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.