Background
Lee Anne Willson (nee Mordy) was born on March 14, 1947, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The daughter of a scientist, she spent her youth reading science fiction books
Lee Anne Willson (nee Mordy) was born on March 14, 1947, in Honolulu, Hawaii. The daughter of a scientist, she spent her youth reading science fiction books
From 1968-1969, she studied in Stockholm as a Fulbright scholar as well as an American-Scandinavian Foundation scholar. Willson attended the University of Michigan for graduate school where she received a Master"s degree in astronomy in 1970 and a Doctor of Philosophy in astronomy in 1973.
Willson was interested in science from an early age. Her junior year of high school, she wanted to be an astronaut but she realized that this dream was impractical because she had poor vision, a crooked knee, and was female. Because she still wanted to learn about space, she decided that she wanted to be an astronomer instead.
Willson received her Bachelor"s Degree in physics from Harvard University in 1968 where she learned that perseverance was almost as important as knowledge.
Willson wanted to take an advanced physics course, which the professor strongly advised against because she was female. Her response to the professor was, "I"ll see you in class on Monday".
While in graduate school, she gave a seminar on Mira variables. Her research on them became very in-depth and she continued to research them as she took a position at Iowa State University.
In 1973, Willson got employed by Iowa State.
She decided to keep working towards improving the astronomy program at Iowa State. Willson worked with another scientist, Steven Hill, and together they theorized that Mira stars pulsated a certain way. While this theory contradicted all others, it was a commonly accepted idea ten years later.
Recently, she has been researching if main-sequence stars lose mass while pulsating.
She has held other positions in academia including being a visiting fellow at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in 1985 and a visiting astronomer at Cambridge University in 2007. She has also been a visiting professor at Uppsala University in 1991 and 2003-2004, the University of Minnesota in 1991 and 2003-2004, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics from 2003-2004.
Willson has spent almost 20 years with the American Astronomical Society, being part of the council (1993-1996), the publication board (2006-2010), and vice president (2009-2012). Willson was also on the Board of Directors of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy from 1989-2002.
She is also a very strong proponent of women in science.
Fellow American Association for the Advancement of Science (chairman section D 2001). Member American Astronomical Society (council 1993-1996, Annie Jump Cannon prize 1980), American Association Variable Star Observers (president 1999-2001), International Astronomical Union (steering committee Comn. 36 1992-1993).
Married Stephen Jeffrey Willson, July 19, 1969. Children: Kendra Jean, Jeffrey Scott.