Chryssa Kouveliotou

Kouveliotou received her bachelor's degree in physics from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, in 1975, and earned her master's degree in science from the University of Sussex, England, in 1977. She received her doctorate in astrophysics in 1981[1] from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, under the supervision of Klaus Pinkau. She was a faculty at the Dept. of Physics of the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens before pursuing research work in the United States.[2]

Kouveliotou joined NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in 1991, initially supporting the Gamma Ray Astrophysics Team. Her numerous contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics have expanded scientific understanding of fleeting, transient phenomena in the Milky Way galaxy and throughout the universe. Besides determining the unique properties of the highly energetic emissions from gamma-ray bursts – the brightest and most powerful cosmic events ever documented – Kouveliotou was part of the team which in 1997 revealed the extragalactic nature of these sources. In 1998, she and her team also made the first confirmed detection of ultra-dense neutron stars called magnetars – the cinders of stars left over after a supernova. In 2014 she moved as a Professor of Physics at George Washington University.

In 2012 she received the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics[3] as well as NASA Exceptional Service Medal, NASA's highest form of recognition awarded to a Government employee who, by distinguished service, ability, or vision has personally contributed to NASA's advancement of United States' interests; the same year she was named one of Time Magazine's 25 most influential people in space. In 2005, she received the NASA Space Act Award, which recognizes and rewards outstanding scientific or technical contributions significant to NASA's mission. In 2003, she shared the Bruno Rossi Prize for her work on magnetars[4], which awarded annually by the High Energy Astrophysics division of the American Astronomical Society. In 2002, she was the sole American representative on the international team which received the Descartes Prize in Astrophysics, which recognizes scientific breakthroughs from European collaborative research in any scientific field.

She was elected a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015[5] as well as a foreign member of the Academy of Athens (Greece) in 2016[6].

Kouveliotou was married to fellow astrophysicist Jan van Paradijs.[7]