Journal of Plasma Physics board member, Professor Roger Blandford, has been awarded The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2020

Roger’s many profound contributions to theoretical astrophysics and his continuing originality and towering presence make him a worthy recipient of the 2020 Shaw Prize in Astronomy.

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy 2020 is awarded to Roger D. Blandford, Luke Blossom Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences and Professor at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, USA, for his wide-ranging foundational contributions to theoretical astrophysics. This prestigious prize is awarded in shared collaboration between the Shaw Prize Foundation and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). 

The following text is quoted from the Shaw Prize press release.

Read the full press release at: https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/astronomy/2020/press-release

Roger D. Blandford is one of the most outstanding all-round theoretical astrophysicists of his generation, having made foundational contributions to many astrophysical problems including the fundamental understanding of active galactic nuclei, the formation and collimation of relativistic jets, the energy extraction mechanism from black holes and the acceleration of particles in shocks and their relevant radiation mechanisms. His work across this extremely broad spectrum of problems arguably places him among the group of rare “universal” scientists. Furthermore, he has been one of the leaders in the modelling and interpretation of gravitational lensing, and has contributed to the interpretation of gamma-ray data from the Fermi spacecraft and the study of gravitational waves.