Past IAS Scholars Honored by American Astronomical Society
Five past scholars from the School of Natural Sciences have been named as recipients in the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 2026 Awards and Prizes for “outstanding achievements in research and education.” Established in 1899, the AAS is a preeminent international organization for professional astronomers, educators, and amateur astronomers.
Lars Hernquist, Member (1987–90), was the recipient of the 2026 Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, chosen each year on “the basis of a lifetime of eminence in astronomical research.” The citation notes Hernquist’s contributions to the field both as a scholar and professor, describing his “pioneering theories, numerical techniques, and simulations that underpin our understanding of galaxy formation, structure, and evolution, the formation of stars and supermassive black holes, and the large-scale structure of the universe,” as well as his work “training and mentoring generations of early career astronomers.”
Kailash Sahu, Member (2022–23) in the School, was awarded the Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize, which recognizes “an outstanding research contribution to astronomy or astrophysics, of an exceptionally creative or innovative character.” AAS highlighted Sahu’s work on relativistic deflection—the slight bending of light predicted by founding Professor (1933–55) in the School of Mathematics/Natural Sciences Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity—and its uses in both detecting stellar black holes and measuring the masses of stellar bodies.
The AAS also annually grants the Buchalter Cosmology Prizes, named for astrophysicist and prize sponsor Ari Buchalter. These prizes are given in recognition of “new ideas or discoveries that have the potential to produce breakthrough advances in our understanding of the origin, structure, and evolution of the universe beyond current standard cosmological models.” Matthew McQuinn, Junior Visiting Professor (2001–02) in the School, won the 2026 First Prize alongside four collaborators for a paper entitled “Kiloparsec-scale turbulence driven by reionization may grow intergalactic magnetic fields.” Past IAS scholars were also honored with the Second Prize: Clifford Burgess, Member (1985–86, 2000–01), and Anne Davis, Member (1982–83), received the award with four other collaborators for their work on the paper “A Minimal Axio-dilation Dark Sector,” which has been published in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics.
Read more on the American Astronomical Society website.
