Madau, Piero

Soci Stranieri

Anno di nomina: 2024

Email: pmadau [@] ucsc.edu

Profilo

Professor Piero Madau is currently serving as a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and as a Professore Ordinario at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Born and educated in Italy, he completed his undergraduate studies in Physics at the University of Florence, and earned his PhD in Astrophysics at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste. He has held postdoctoral positions at the California Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University, as well as faculty roles at the Space Telescope Science Institute and the University of Cambridge in the UK. Professor Madau's research is at the cutting edge of cosmology, combining observational, theoretical, and computational approaches. His pioneering work has greatly advanced our understanding of galaxy formation, dark matter, massive black holes, and cosmic reionization. Among his numerous accolades, he received the prestigious Dannie Heineman Prize in Astrophysics in 2014, awarded jointly by the American Astronomical Society and the American Institute of Physics, the Humboldt Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2005, the Schroedinger Professorship at the Pauli Center for Theoretical Physics in Zurich, and the Blaise Pascal Chair at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. Professor Madau has also played key leadership roles in the global astronomical community, serving on numerous review panels and advisory boards, including those for NASA, the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and the European Research Council.