Edward Leonard Wright

Background

Wright, Edward Leonard was born on August 25, 1947 in Washington, District of Columbia, United States. Son of Rufus William and Gertrude (Leonard) Wright.

Education

Wright received his ABscl (Physics in 1969) and Doctor of Philosophy (Astronomy in 1976) degrees in high altitude rocket measurement of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation from Harvard University, where he was a Junior Fellow.

Career

After teaching as a tenured Associated Professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Physics Department for a while, Wright has been a Professor at University of California, Los Angeles since 1981. Wright takes an interest in infrared astronomy and cosmology. He has studied fractal dust grains which are able to absorb and emit efficiently at millimeter wavelengths, and other aspects that may be important factors in drawing secrets from the cosmic microwave background.

As an interdisciplinary scientist on the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) Science Working Group, Wright has worked on the SIRTF project (renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope) since 1976.

He is the principal investigator of the Wide field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) project WMAP is a mission to follow-up the COBE discovery of early fluctuations in the developing Universe.

From 1994-1998, he served as a Science Editor of The Astrophysical Journal. Honors and

Achievements

• Edward Leonard Wright has been listed as a noteworthy Astronomy educator by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

National Academy of Sciences]

He was an active member of the teams working on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) since 1978. Professor Wright is also a member of the current science team on the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which was launched in June 2001.

Connections

Married Patricia Jaskun, March 18, 1978. Children: William, Diana.

Father:

Rufus William Wright

Mother:

Gertrude (Leonard) Wright

Spouse:

Patricia Jaskun

child:

William Wright

child:

Diana Wright