Lisa Kewley

Lisa Kewley is Director of the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian. She is Director of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Director of the Harvard College Observatory, and Professor of Astrophysics at the Harvard Department of Astronomy. At the Center for Astrophysics, she is implementing an ambitious new vision for the next generation space and ground-based telescopes, petabyte-scale data handling, new diversity and inclusion initiatives, and nation-wide education and outreach programs.

Kewley is a leader in the theoretical modelling and observation of star-forming and active galaxies. Her work has illuminated the history of the universe, particularly star and galaxy formation. Her seminal contributions include understanding the gas physics in star-forming galaxies, understanding galaxies containing actively accreting supermassive black holes, and tracing the star-formation and oxygen history of galaxies over the past 12 billion years. Her most recent research combines stellar evolution and photoionization models with 3D integral field spectroscopy to understand the physical processes that transform galaxies.

Kewley completed her undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Adelaide and obtained her Ph.D. from the Australian National University. Prior to becoming the Director of the CFA, she was Professor and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow at the Australian National University.