UCLA Center for the Study of Women

The Royal Swedish Academy of Scienceshas selected Andrea Ghez, a professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, to receive the 2012 Crafoord Prize in Astronomy. She is being honored by the Academy for “observations of stars orbiting the Galactic center, indicating the presence of a supermassive black hole.” The Crafoord Prize, which includes an accompanying award of 4 million Swedish krona, is considered one of the world’s largest scientific prizes. Ghez is the first woman to win the award since its establishment in 1982.