ASP Announces 2025 Award Recipients

This post is adapted from a series of press releases and announcements on the Astronomical Society of the Pacific website:

The Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP), founded in 1889 (10 years before the AAS) and based in San Francisco, California, is an international nonprofit scientific and educational organization that works to increase understanding and appreciation of astronomy.

Each year, the ASP recognizes individual achievements in astronomy research, technology, education, and public outreach. The 2025 award winners have just been announced. Here's a summary; follow the links to read more detailed information about each of the recipients.

Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal

The Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal was established by Catherine Wolfe Bruce, an American philanthropist and patroness of astronomy. The ASP presents the medal annually to a professional astronomer in recognition of a lifetime of outstanding achievement and contributions to astrophysics research. The recipient of the 2025 Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal is Gary J. Ferland, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Ferland is a leader in the field of quantitative spectroscopy who created the groundbreaking ionization and thermal synthesis code Cloudy, which has been instrumental in accurately predicting the chemical, physical, and radiative conditions in a wide range of gaseous nebulae, including nova remnants, supernova ejecta, planetary nebulae, molecular clouds, galactic HII regions, and the central regions of active galactic nuclei. Although the initial work on Cloudy began 40 years ago, it continues to be updated and remains a powerful tool in the spectral analysis of gases and plasmas. 

Robert J. Trumpler Award

Presented to a recent recipient of a PhD degree whose research is considered unusually important to astronomy, the 2025 Robert J. Trumpler Award is presented to Justin Myles. Myles received his doctorate in physics from Stanford University and is currently a Brinson Fellow at Princeton University. Myles’s landmark contributions to observational cosmology were summarized by one of his nominators, who wrote, “his research record and profile are at the core of what we need in order to make the upcoming generation of cosmological galaxy surveys a success.” Myles’s groundbreaking doctoral research focused on his development of a new technique for calibrating the distances to galaxies measured through optical surveys using a fraction of the spectroscopic data required by other methods.

Klumpke–Roberts Award

Awarded to an individual or individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the public understanding and appreciation of astronomy, the Klumpke–Roberts Award for 2025 goes to Kimberly Arcand for over 26 years of bringing astrophysics discoveries to broad and diverse audiences through innovative astronomy communication methodologies. Arcand’s extraordinary contribution as the visualization scientist and emerging technology lead for the Chandra X-ray Center has, as one nominator professed, “played an essential role in bringing discoveries like Chandra’s to the world in a way that is both accessible and inspiring.”

Nancy Grace Roman Award

Named for an icon in the history of astronomy research and space exploration, ASP’s Nancy Grace Roman Award was introduced in 2023 to recognize an individual or group for significant contributions to promoting gender equity and inclusion in astronomy and related fields. The 2025 Nancy Grace Roman Award goes to Laura Lopez, not just for her undeniable dedication as a leader in the study of supernova remnants and massive star feedback processes in galaxies, but also for her dedication to promoting gender equity and inclusion in astronomy and her vigorous support for students from historically marginalized groups.

Thomas J. Brennan Award

Awarded to an individual demonstrating excellence in the teaching of astronomy at the high school level in North America, the 2025 Thomas J. Brennan Award goes to William Keith Turner, a teacher and Planetarium Director at Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana, for excellence in the teaching of astronomy, commitment to classroom or planetarium education, and training of teachers. Turner’s exceptional and ongoing commitment to sharing his knowledge of the universe has reached thousands of students, whether directly through his classroom, via a planetarium, or through the training of other teachers. 

The 2025 ASP Awards Gala to honor the awardees will be held on Saturday, 8 November, at the Hilton San Francisco Airport Bayfront hotel in Burlingame, California. Congratulations, all!