Gary Ferland

Gary Joseph Ferland (born May 10, 1951, in Washington D.C.) is an American astrophysicist. He is a professor of Physics and Astronomy at The University of Kentucky. [1] He is best known for developing the astrophysical simulation code Cloudy, for his work on physical processes in ionized plasmas, and investigations of the chemical evolution of the cosmos.

Gary J. Ferland
Gary Ferland 2016 (IAU)
Ferland in 2016
Born
Gary Joseph Ferland

(1951-05-10) May 10, 1951
Washington D.C., USA
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater
AwardsCatedratico de Excelencia Guillermo Haro, (2016)
AAS Fellow
AAAS Fellow
RAS Fellow
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
Institutions
ThesisSpectroscopic Observations of Nova V1500 Cygni (1978)
Doctoral advisorDavid L. Lambert
Gregory Shields
Websitepa.as.uky.edu/users/gary/

He joined the University of Texas Astronomy Department in 1973 where he received his Ph.D. in 1978, studying the 1975 explosion of V1500 Cygni at McDonald Observatory. From 1978 to 1980 he was at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge where he worked with Martin Rees on International Ultraviolet Explorer observations of radio galaxies.[2] He joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky in 1980. The American Astronomical Society's Astronomy Genealogy Project[3] lists the 17 PhDs he has supervised.[4]

Ferland is a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society,[5] and has served on their Governing Council in addition to their Publications Board.[6] He was named Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[7] in 2023 and is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He is a long-time member of the International Astronomical Union[8] where he was on the Organizing Committee of Division VI (2003-2009) and Commission 34 (2006-2012) Interstellar Matter.

His research involves the interactions between light and matter, especially how the photons we receive can tell us about events at the edges of the Universe.[9] He has also studied such diverse environments as the interstellar medium, planetary nebulae, H II region, photodissociation regions, and Active Galactic Nuclei. His discovery of a tidal disruption event in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548[10] was listed by Science News as one of the top ten discoveries in astronomy in 1986.[11]

He is best known as a developer of the Open Source spectral simulation code Cloudy, a project he started at Cambridge in 1978. The code uses large databases of atomic, molecular and interstellar grain cross sections and rate coefficients to determine the physical state of a non-equilibrium plasma, the emission or absorption properties of Interstellar clouds, and predict the observed spectrum. Cloudy helps to understand the emission and absorption spectra of plasmas and to interpret observational data from various astrophysical sources. Nature Astronomy named Cloudy their first Code of honour[12] in their Access Code[13] series.

He has edited two books in addition to more than 700 articles on astronomy and astrophysics.[14] He is a co-author on the influential[15] 2006 textbook Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae and Active Galactic Nuclei, written with Donald E. Osterbrock of Lick Observatory and the University of California at Santa Cruz.

A noted science communicator, Ferland has given popular-level talks at the Smithsonian Institution, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and numerous clubs, organizations, and classes across the Bluegrass region.

Honors and awards

Ferland was named as American Astronomical Society Fellow in 2021 and as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.[16] Both cited his development of the Cloudy spectral simulation code. In 2016 he received Catedratico de Excelencia Guillermo Haro from the National Institute of Astrophysics, Optics and Electronics, (Tonantzintla, Puebla, Mexico). A Festschrift was held in his honor at National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City in 2016.[17]

He has received many honorary visiting positions:

Personal life

Ferland was the son of Andrew Joseph Ferland, a career officer in the United States Air Force, and Ida Marie Schneemann. He was raised in Washington D.C., the Panama Canal Zone, Alaska, Florida, and Texas, where he received a BS in Physics with Special Honors in 1972 at the University of Texas. [19]

He married Ann Elizabeth Clemmens (1952-) in 1983. They have two children, Peter Andrew (1987-) and Elizabeth Marie (1989-).

Books
  • Ferland, Gary J.; Savin, Daniel Wolf (2001). Spectroscopic Challenges of Photoionized Plasmas. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ISBN 1-58381-085-4.
  • Ferland, Gary J.; Baldwin, Jack (1999). Quasars and Cosmology. Astronomical Society of the Pacific. ISBN 1-886733-83-X.
  • Osterbrock, Donald; Ferland, Gary (2006). Astrophysics of gaseous nebulae and active galactic nuclei (2 ed.). Sausilito: University Science Books. p. 480. ISBN 978-1-891389-34-4.

References
  1. "Gary Ferland". Department of Physics and Astronomy. The University of Kentucky. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
  2. Ferland, G.J.; Rees, M.J.; Longair, M.S.; Perryman, M.C. (1979). "Observations of 3C 390.3 with the International Ultraviolet Explorer". MNRAS. 187: 65P-71. doi:10.1093/mnras/187.1.65P. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. "Astronomy Genealogy Project". Astronomy Genealogy Project. AAS. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  4. "Gary Ferland's PhD Students". Astronomy Genealogy Project. AAS. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  5. Ferland, Gary. "Fellows of the AAS". Fellows of the AAS. AAS. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  6. Ferland, Gary. "Gary Ferland at the AAS". List of Past Officers and Trustees of the AAS. AAS. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  7. Ferland, Gary. "Elected Fellows of the AAAS". Elected Fellows of the AAAS. AAAS. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  8. Ferland, Gary. "Gary Ferland's IAU page". Gary Ferland's IAU page. IAU. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  9. "'Behind the Blue': Peering Deep Into Our Universe With Gary Ferland | University of Kentucky Research". www.research.uky.edu. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
  10. Peterson, B.M.; Ferland, G.J. (1986). "An accretion event in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 5548". Nature. 324 (6095): 345–347. doi:10.1038/324345a0. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  11. "Science News of the Year". No. v130, p400. Society for Science & the Public. 1986. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  12. Nature Astronomy, Access Code (20 August 2023). "Cloudy". Nature Astronomy. 7: 1002. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  13. Access Code web site. "Nature Astronomy Access Code". Nature Astronomy Access Code. Nature Astronomy. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. "Publications of Gary Ferland". Publications of Gary Ferland. Astrophysics Data System. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  15. "Citations to Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae". Google Scholar list of citations to Astrophysics of Gaseous Nebulae. Google Scholar. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  16. "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2022 Fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  17. Ferland, Gary. "Festschrift". Festschrift at. UNAM. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  18. "Gary Ferland at Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge". Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge. Cambridge. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  19. "'Behind the Blue': Peering Deep Into Our Universe With Gary Ferland | University of Kentucky Research". www.research.uky.edu. Retrieved 16 September 2023.

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:University of Texas alumni Category:Cambridge University alumni Category:University of Kentucky faculty Category:Fellows of the American Astronomical Society Category:Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Category:Spectroscopists

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