NJIT Physicist Dale Gary Named American Astronomical Society Fellow

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) has named Dale Gary, distinguished professor of physics at NJIT's Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR), one of 24 new AAS Fellows for 2025.

The Society annually honors the most distinguished members from its global community of over 8,000 astronomers, recognizing extraordinary achievements and service in the astronomical sciences.

The AAS cited Gary specifically "for outstanding national and international leadership in solar radio engineering and solar physics resulting in fundamentally new understanding of solar energetic processes that emerge from solar microwave spectroscopy, and for excellent collaborative leadership in the AAS Solar Physics Division."

Gary has been a continuous member of the AAS since 1983, shortly after receiving his Ph.D. degree, and served in several elected positions, most recently as Chair of the AAS Solar Physics Division from 2019-2021.

Gary's nearly 40-year career has largely focused on using radio observations to study explosive energy releases from the Sun, contributing to more than 150 peer-reviewed publications that have advanced the field.

Since joining NJIT's faculty in 1997, Gary has been at the forefront of research applying microwave spectral imaging to better understand complex physical processes in the solar atmosphere that drive solar flares and coronal mass ejections - massive eruptions that can profoundly impact Earth's space environment.

This work has been centered at NJIT's Owens Valley Solar Array, a National Science Foundation-supported solar radio telescope where Gary has served as director since joining NJIT. He oversaw a significant expansion of the array from 2012-2017, creating the Expanded Owens Valley Solar Array (EOVSA) currently operating as an NSF Geosciences Facility. Using EOVSA's unique capabilities to capture multi-frequency images of solar radio emissions every second, Gary has advanced investigations into fundamental mysteries of solar physics, offering new insights into how magnetic energy is released and particles are accelerated to near-light speeds during the Sun's most explosive events.

His work has also led to key discoveries about space weather impacts on Earth. In 2006, Gary and colleagues found that solar radio bursts can cause failures in Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, revealing a direct link between solar eruptions and disruptions to critical technologies.

Gary's work on advancing solar radio instrumentation concepts culminated in the recent selection of the Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (FASR) as the top priority midscale project, announced in the report of the Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, released in December 2024. EOVSA has served as a science and technology demonstrator for this future national facility.

Gary's contributions to solar physics have earned him numerous other prestigious honors, including his 2020 election as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for his work on solar emissions and their effects on Earth.

The AAS, which was established in 1899, will formally recognize Gary and the rest of the 2025 class of Fellows at an upcoming AAS meeting later this year. The 2025 AAS Fellows represent the sixth class to earn the distinction.

Gary's recognition follows that of NJIT-CSTR distinguished physics professor Philip R. Goode, who was named AAS Fellow in 2021.

For more information, see the AAS Fellows page.

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