New Prize to Recognize Achievements By Mid-Career Planetary Scientists

This post is adapted from a DPS press release:

At its virtual meeting on 26 October, the AAS Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) introduced the Claudia J. Alexander Prize to recognize mid-career scientists who have made and continue to make outstanding research contributions advancing our knowledge of planetary systems, including our own solar system. The prize bridges the gap between the Harold C. Urey Prize for early career planetary scientists and the Gerard P. Kuiper Prize for more senior researchers. As this is a mid-career award it is expected that candidates have made outstanding contributions beyond the period of eligibility for the Urey prize (8 years beyond earning their final degree).

Claudia Alexander was an outstanding planetary scientist as well as a passionate writer who worked tirelessly to promote representation of women and minorities in the field. Her significant contributions to planetary science would have made her an exemplary candidate for a DPS mid-career award. She worked briefly at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and the NASA Ames Research Center before moving to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in 1986, where she spent most of her career. She received her PhD in atmospheric, oceanic, and space sciences from the University of Michigan in 1993. Some of Claudia’s key contributions at JPL include her role as Project Manager of the Galileo mission to the Jupiter system, US Project Manager of European Space Agency's Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and Science Coordinator on the Cassini mission to Saturn.

Claudia served as chair of the American Geophysical Union’s diversity subcommittee and was a member of the Association for Women Geoscientists, which named her Woman of the Year in 1993. In 2003 she received the Emerald Honor for Women of Color in Research & Engineering from the Career Communications Group, publisher of Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine. Claudia passed away in 2015 at the age of 56, in the prime of her career, after suffering from breast cancer.

We look forward to receiving nominations for the first Claudia J. Alexander Prize next year.