Menas C. Kafatos | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1945-03-25)March 25, 1945 (age 80) |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology(PhD) Cornell University(BA) |
| Spouse | Susan Yang |
| Awards | Honorary Member,Romanian Academy of Sciences(2000),Rustum Roy Award, Chopra Foundation(2011),IEEE Orange County Chapter, Outstanding Leadership and Professional Service Award(2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Cosmology,Natural hazards,Climate change,Spirituality,Philosophy |
| Institutions | Chapman University, Center of Excellence in Earth Systems Modeling and Observations (CEESMO) |
Menas C. Kafatos (Greek:Μηνάς Καφάτος; born 25 March 1945) is a Greek-born American physicist and a writer on spirituality and science. His publications include:The Nonlocal Universe andThe Conscious Universe. Kafatos has written and lectured extensively promoting discourse between science, spirituality, and religion. He has held numerous positions at institutions includingChapman University,George Mason University, andNASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Kafatos received his B.A. in physics fromCornell University in 1967 and a Ph.D. in physics from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1972.[1] After postdoctoral work atNASA Goddard Space Flight Center, he joinedGeorge Mason University and was University Professor of Interdisciplinary Sciences from 1984-2008, where he also served as dean of the School of Computational Sciences and director of the Center for Earth Observing and Space Research.[1] He and a team of computational scientists joinedChapman University in the fall of 2008, where he was the Founding Dean of the Schmid College of Science and Technology serving as dean from 2009 – 2012.[1] He currently is the director of the Center of Excellence in Earth Systems Modeling and Observations (CEESMO).
Kafatos has authored books includingThe Conscious Universe,The Non-local Universe (withRobert Nadeau,Springer-Verlag andOxford University Press),Principles of Integrative Science (with Mihai Draganescu,Romanian Academy of Sciences Press), and more than 300peer reviewed publications, cited by over 750 other articles.[2]
Menas was one of the speakers inBhagavad Gita Summit (from 10–1 December 2021) duringGita Jayanti atDallas,Texas, US along with other notable personalities such asSwami Mukundananda Ji,Mr. Shiv Khera,Kiran Bedi,Brahmacharini Gloria Arieira,Dantu Muralikrishna and others.[3][4]
Kafatos' peer-reviewed research has focused oncosmology,astrophysics,natural hazards,climate change,Earth system science, andremote sensing. Although he has written books around meta-physical interpretations of quantum phenomena he does not have substantial peer-reviewed work inquantum physics.[5]
Notable scientific contributions include enhancements to synthetictropical cyclone (hurricane) circulations used in forecast models,[6] new perspectives on the self organization of the universe through the lens ofcomplexity,[7][8] a detailed look at the relationship between vegetation in the United States andEl Niño/Southern Oscillation,[9] and a better understanding ofdust andaerosols overIndia.[10][11]
Kafatos lives inMarina Del Rey, California, with his wife Susan Yang, a scientist in the fields ofcomputational biology,experimental biology, andneuroscience. They met while working together atGeorge Mason University. His brother,Fotis Kafatos, was abiologist and founder and honorary president of theEuropean Research Council (ERC). Kafatos has 3 children: Lefteris, Stefanos, and Alexios. He is the chairman of the board for theAmerican Hellenic Council.
