Bradley M. Peterson

College of Science and Engineering, October 6, 2016

Bradley M. Peterson received a bachelor of science degree in physics in 1974 from the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota. After receiving a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Arizona in 1978, he held post-doctoral positions in physics and astronomy at the University of Minnesota before moving to The Ohio State University (OSU), where he spent the rest of his career. He served as vice chair and chair of the Department of Astronomy at OSU until his retirement in 2015. Peterson is renowned for having advanced the creative approach of reverberation mapping to study supermassive black holes; this technique has grown in importance and is considered foundational to major telescope projects extending into the next decade. Peterson is credited with leading the OSU Department of Astronomy in becoming the most prestigious of the 14 universities in the Big 10. He is the co-author of 229-refereed publications and wrote the textbook, Foundations to Active Galaxies, the premier textbook in the field for decades. His service to his university and field is extraordinary. He has served on more than 50 committees, as a member and often as chair. Currently, he serves as a member of the NASA Advisory Council and the James Webb Space Telescope Advisory Council.