Arts & Sciences Associate Professor of Astronomy Tereasa Brainerd has been named a member of the 2023 class of American Astronomical Society (AAS) Fellows.
Brainerd joins the fourth class of AAS Fellows, who are recognized for original research and publications, innovative contributions to astronomical techniques or instrumentation, significant contributions to education and public outreach, and noteworthy service to astronomy and to the Society itself. The AAS, a major international organization of professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers, has honored 22 members for extraordinary achievement and service by naming them AAS Fellows.
“It’s an incredible honor to be named a Fellow of the AAS,” Brainerd says. “The AAS is the largest professional association of astronomers in the USA. In addition to hosting conferences, the AAS publishes some of the world’s most impactful astronomy journals and advocates for astronomical science at the federal level, focusing on policy making that impacts funding for astronomy research and education, as well as regulations and policies that impact astronomy as a profession. I’ve been a proud AAS member for over 30 years, and I’m deeply humbled by this truly special recognition by my colleagues.”
An expert on satellite galaxies as probes of dark matter halos, weak gravitational lensing, intrinsic alignments of galaxies, galaxy clustering, and numerical simulations of structure formation, Brainerd was nominated for her pioneering work in the use of weak gravitational lensing to measure the structure of individual galaxies; significant service to the Society in committee roles and on the Board of Trustees; and leading the Institute for Astrophysical Research and the Department of Astronomy at Boston University to a significant expansion in research in observational astronomy.
Her current research at BU includes studies of the spatial and velocity distributions of satellite galaxies and comparisons of observed properties of galaxies to the properties of galaxies in large simulations.
“Professor Brainerd was a driving force in getting Boston University into what is now the highly successful 4.3-meter Lowell Discovery Telescope project, in chairing our Astronomy department through a growth phase, and in sharing her enormous wisdom and guidance to the American Astronomical Society in multiple positions over many years,” said Dan Clemens, Professor and Chair of the Astronomy Department.
The inaugural class of fellows named in 2020 included more than 200 Society members, including past recipients of certain awards from the AAS or its topical Divisions, distinguished AAS elected leaders and volunteer committee members, and previously unrecognized individuals with long histories of outstanding research, teaching, mentoring, and service.