Alice Harding
{{short description|American astrophysicist}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Alice K. Harding
| image = File:Alice Harding astrophysicist.png
| caption = Harding in 2012
| fields = Astrophysics
| workplaces = NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
| alma_mater = Bryn Mawr College (BA), University of Massachusetts-Amherst (PhD)
| thesis_title = Propagation in Pulsar Magnetospheres: Effects of A Shearing Plasma
| thesis_year = 1979
| awards = Bruno Rossi Prize 2013
}}
Alice Kust Harding is an American astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland.
Early life and education
Harding earned a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania, in 1973,{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=June 23, 2011|title=NASA Astrophysicist Alice K. Harding '73 to Open Summer Series of Lectures by Prominent Women in Science|url=https://news.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2011/06/23/nasa-astrophysicist-alice-k-harding-73-to-open-summer-series-of-lectures-by-prominent-women-in-science/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906180424/http://news.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2011/06/23/nasa-astrophysicist-alice-k-harding-73-to-open-summer-series-of-lectures-by-prominent-women-in-science/ |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |access-date=October 20, 2020|website=Bryn Mawr College News Archive}} and a Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, in 1979.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Astronomy Alumni & PhD Theses|url=https://www.astro.umass.edu/academics/grad/thesis|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912164652/http://astro.umass.edu:80/academics/grad/thesis |archive-date=September 12, 2016 |access-date=October 20, 2020|website=University of Massachusetts Amherst - College of Natural Sciences - Department of Astronomy}}
Career and research
In 1980, Harding was appointed as astrophysicist in the Astrophysics Science Division at Goddard Space Flight Center, a post she has held since then. Her main research interests have been high-energy particle acceleration and radiation processes in pulsars, highly magnetized neutron stars (magnetars), gamma-ray bursts, and supernova remnants.{{cite web|url=https://physics.aps.org/authors/alice_k_harding|title=Alice K. Harding|publisher=APS|accessdate=28 September 2020}}
Harding works as part of astrophysics collaborations including the NICER Science Team, the Fermi Collaboration and AMEGO.{{Cite web|title=AMEGO: Team|url=https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/amego/team.html|access-date=2021-03-14|website=asd.gsfc.nasa.gov}}
Awards and honours
Harding was awarded the status of Fellow{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/|title=APS Fellowship|website=www.aps.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-20}} in the American Physical Society,{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=&unit_id=&institution=|title=APS Fellow Archive|website=www.aps.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-20}} after being nominated by their Division of Astrophysics in 1991,{{Cite web|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=&year=1991&unit_id=&institution=|title=APS Fellows 1991|website=www.aps.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-20}} for pioneering investigation of the theory of pulsar atmospheres, including the pulsar wind and its role in accelerating particles to high energies, and for contributions to the theory of basic electromagnetic interactions in the presence of super-strong magnetic fields.
File:Alice K Harding receives John C Lindsay Memorial Award.jpgIn 1994, Harding received a NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 1994. In 2012, she was awarded the John C. Lindsay Memorial Award in recognition of her scientific achievements at Goddard.{{Cite web|title=Lindsay Awards and Lectures|url=https://scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov/Lindsay_Awards.html|access-date=2021-03-16|website=scicolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov}}
Harding was awarded the 2013 Bruno Rossi Prize together with Roger W. Romani for establishing a theoretical framework for understanding gamma-ray pulsars.{{Cite web|title=HEAD AAS Rossi Prize Winners {{!}} High Energy Astrophysics Division|url=https://head.aas.org/rossi/rossi.recip.html#AC|access-date=2021-03-14|website=head.aas.org}}{{Cite web|last=Administrator|first=NASA|date=2013-06-06|title=NASA Goddard Astrophysicist Wins Prize for Pulsar Work|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/features/2013/harding-rossi-prize.html|access-date=2021-03-14|website=NASA|language=en}}
She was elected a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society in 2020.{{cite web|url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows|title=AAS Fellows|publisher=AAS|accessdate=28 September 2020}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:20th-century American physicists
Category:20th-century American women scientists
Category:American women physicists
Category:Fellows of the American Astronomical Society
Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society