Rachel Bean, an associate professor of astronomy at Cornell University is a member of the team honored with the 2012 Gruber Cosmology Prize from the International Astronomical Union and the Gruber Foundation. The prize is awarded for “theoretical, analytical, conceptual, or observational discoveries leading to fundamental advances in our understanding the universe.”
The team, led by Charles L. Bennett, a professor of physics and astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, was honored for their work on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) which analyzed the “echo of the Big Bang” to determine the age, content, geometry, and origin of the universe. Scientists on the team will share the $500,000 cash prize.
Other women who were among the 26 members of the WMAP team are Joanna Dunkley of Oxford University, Hiranya Peiris of University College of London, Licia Verde of the Institute of Cosmological Sciences in Barcelona, and Janet Weiland of Johns Hopkins University.