| 1 | Name: | Dr. Irwin I. Shapiro | |
| Institution: | Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Harvard University & Massachusetts Institute of Technology | ||
| Year Elected: | 1998 | ||
| Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 101. Astronomy | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1929 | ||
Irwin Shapiro formerly directed the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, arguably the world's largest astronomical research institution, and has been Timken University Professor at Harvard since 1997 and Schlumberger Professor Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1985. He proposed and, with colleagues, verified the fourth test of general relativity, now called the "Shapiro effect." With a former student he initiated the revolution in geodesy based on the use of GPS signals to determine via interferometry the vector distance between points on the Earth with errors at the millimeter level. Strongly advocating improved pre-college science teaching, he has sponsored a cutting-edge educational group at the Center for Astrophysics and has guided the preparation of imaginative new texts and hands-on materials. Dr. Shapiro holds a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard (1955) and is a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences (1969); the National Academy of Sciences (1974); and the American Astronomical Society (division chairman, 1970-71) and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; the American Geophysical Union; and the American Physical Society. He was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1998. | |||