Making Waves

Portrait of Gabriela Gonzalez

Gabriela González

Proving Einstein Right

by Lara Dunkelberg '20

Physicist Gabriela González will discuss the recent confirmation of the existence of gravitational waves, first hypothesized by Albert Einstein, during Dickinson’s Glover Memorial Lecture, “Einstein, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves,” on Monday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m. in the Anita Tuvin Schlechter (ATS) Auditorium.

González will describe the latest discoveries made with the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) detectors and explain the history and significance of the observations for the future of physics and astronomy. She is known for participating in the announcement of the discovery of gravitational waves in 2016.

González is a professor of physics and astronomy at Louisiana State University, and has been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) since 1997, serving as the elected LSC spokesperson from 2011-2017. She and the LSC are recipients of the 2017 Bruno Rossi Prize of the American Astronomical Society. Her numerous awards also include the “Scientist of the Year” award given at the 2016 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference by the Great Minds in STEM organization and the 2016 “Pioneer in Science” award from the World Science Festival.

The Glover Memorial Lecture at Dickinson is usually presented in alternate years. This lectureship in science was established in 1958 by the late Dr. John D. Yeagley and Mrs. Blanche Yeagley of York, Pennsylvania, in memory of English chemist John Glover, who devised a better method for the industrial production of sulfuric acid. The lectureship also memorializes Glover’s son, Henry Glover, and grandson, Lester Glover. Recent lectures include Nobel laureate David Lee’s “Superconductivity and Superfluidity: A Century of Discovery” and former Congressman and physicist Rush Holt’s presentation, “Advancing Science.”

The program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Glover Memorial Lecture Fund, and co-sponsored by the Department of Physics & Astronomy.

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Published January 22, 2018