Pascale Ehrenfreund | |
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| Born | 1960 (age 64–65) |
| Alma mater | University of Vienna University of Paris VII Webster Leiden |
| Occupation(s) | CEO of theGerman Aerospace Center President ofCommittee on Space Research Astrophysicist |
| Years active | 1990-present |
| Employer(s) | Leiden University University of Amsterdam George Washington University Radboud University Nijmegen Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA Astrobiology Institute Austrian Fund for the Promotion of Scientific Research German Aerospace Center |
| Known for | Asteroid9826 Ehrenfreund is named in her honor. |
Pascale Ehrenfreund (born 1960) is an Austrian astrophysicist. Ehrenfreund holds degrees from theUniversity of Vienna (Masters,molecular biology; PhD astrophysics,habilitation,astrochemistry) andWebster Leiden (Masters, management and leadership). Prior to becoming a Research Professor of Space Policy and International Affairs atGeorge Washington University, she was a professor atRadboud University Nijmegen,Leiden University, andUniversity of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. She was the first woman president of theAustrian Science Fund (FWF) and from 2015-2020, she was the CEO of theGerman Aerospace Center.[1] Since 2019, she is the President of theInternational Astronautical Federation (IAF) and since 2018, she is the Chancellor of theInternational Space University (ISU). Since 2021 she is president of the ISU. The main-belt asteroid9826 Ehrenfreund is named in her honor.[2] She is the President ofCommittee on Space Research from 2022 to 2026.[3][4]
Pascale Ehrenfreund was born inVienna,Austria, in 1960. She began her university studies at theUniversity of Vienna, where she studiedastronomy and biology. She went on to earn a degree in molecular biology at theInstitute of Molecular Biology, Salzburg (Austrian Academy of Sciences) in 1988 and then completed her doctorate inastrophysics at theUniversity of Paris VII and the University of Vienna in 1990. Her post-doctorate studies were conducted at theLeiden Observatory as a Fellow of theEuropean Space Agency ESA and later at the Service d'Aeronomie, Verrières-le-Buisson, France, as a Fellow of the French space agencyCentre national d'études spatiales (CNES). In 1993, she received theMarie Curie Fellowship by theEuropean Commission. In 1996, she accepted the APART scholarship from the Austrian Academy of Sciences,[5] to prepare her research in astrochemistry for herhabilitation Thesis at the University of Vienna.[6] She earned herHabilitation degree on the topic of "Cosmic Dust" in 1999[5] and in 2008 went on to earn a master's degree in Management and Leadership fromWebster University inLeiden,Netherlands.[7]
Beginning in 1999, she worked at the Leiden Observatory and was a professor at both theUniversity of Amsterdam andLeiden University in the Netherlands.[5] She was also a professor atRadboud University Nijmegen, in the Netherlands.[8] In 2001, she became the head of the Astrobiology Laboratory at Leiden and participated as the teamleader, co-investigator and principal investigator in numerous experiments and space missions sponsored by both ESA and NASA.[7] In 2005, Pascale Ehrenfreund came to the United States to work at theJet Propulsion Laboratory inPasadena, California[5] as distinguished Visiting Scientist. In 2008, she accepted a position as a research professor and policy expert at the Space Policy Institute ofGeorge Washington University (GWU) inWashington, D.C.[9] and as a senior scientist at theNASA Astrobiology Institute. From 2008 - 2012 she was the project scientist of NASA's O/OREOS satellite.[10] Pascale Ehrenfreund has written over 300 scientific research papers, holds an H-index of 70 and published 12 books.[7]
In 2013, she was selected as the first woman to head the Austrian Science Fund (German:Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung) (FWF).[11]
From 2015-2020, she was the first woman to lead theGerman Aerospace Center (German:Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.) (DLR).[10]
Themain-beltasteroid,9826 Ehrenfreund was named in her honor.[12]
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