David Morrison | |
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 David Morrison in 2022 | |
| Born | June 26, 1940 (1940-06-26) (age 85) |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Known for | astrobiology, planetary exploration, search forextraterrestrial life,Near-Earth object detection, defense against asteroids, scientific skepticism |
| Awards | Dryden Medal, Sagan Medal, Presidential Meritorious Senior Professional |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Planetary science,astrobiology |
| Institutions | NASA Ames Research Center,SETI Institute,NASA Lunar Science Institute,Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute |
David Morrison (born June 26, 1940) is an Americanastronomer, a senior scientist at theSolar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute, atNASA Ames Research Center inMountain View, California. Morrison is the former director of theCarl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at theSETI Institute and of theNASA Lunar Science Institute.[1] He is the past Director of Space atNASA Ames. Morrison is credited as a founder of the multi-disciplinary field ofastrobiology.[2] Morrison is best known for his work in risk assessment of near Earth objects such as asteroids and comets.[3] Asteroid2410 Morrison was named in his honor. Morrison is also known for his "Ask an Astrobiologist" series onNASA's website where he provides answers to questions submitted by the public.[4] He has published 12 books and over 150 papers primarily on planetary science, astrobiology andnear Earth objects.[5]
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David Morrison was born in Danville, Illinois on June 26, 1940. He attended elementary and high school in Danville and graduated from theUniversity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1962.[6] He studied astronomy at Harvard University and received his Ph.D. in 1969, withCarl Sagan as his thesis advisor.
Morrison was Professor of Astronomy atInstitute for Astronomy at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa from 1969 until 1988. He also directed the 3-meterNASA Infrared Telescope Facility ofMauna Kea Observatory[7] and served for two years as University Vice Chancellor for Research. His research accomplishments include demonstration of the uniform high surface temperature ofVenus,[8] the discovery thatNeptune has a large internal heat source while its “twin” planetUranus does not,[9] determination of the surface composition ofPluto,[10] first ground-based measurements of the heat flow from Jupiter's volcanic moonIo,[11] discovery of the fundamental division of the asteroids into dark (primitive) and light (stony) classes,[12] and the first quantitative estimate of the cosmic impact hazard.[13] Morrison was also co-chair of the firstNASAAstrobiology Roadmap workshop and report.
He served as a science investigator onMariner,Voyager andGalileo space science missions. He was on the faculty of theInstitute for Astronomy at theUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa from 1969 until 1988, when he joined the senior management staff of NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. While on the faculty of the University of Hawaiʻi, Morrison spent two sabbaticals at theLunar and Planetary Laboratory of theUniversity of Arizona inTucson, and two assignments in space science management at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC.
David Morrison has held a variety of senior science management positions at NASA Headquarters in Washington and at Ames Research Center in California. In Washington he was the first Program Scientist for theGalileo mission to Jupiter, where he was responsible for defining the mission objectives and recommending the instruments and science investigations that were selected for this mission. He also served as Deputy Associate Administrator for what is now called the NASA Science Mission Directorate.[5] At NASA Ames, he has been Chief of the Space Science Division, Director Space, and most recently the founding Director of theNASA Lunar Science Institute. His responsibilities included the major NASA missions Lunar Pathfinder,Kepler andSOFIA.
Morrison is author of leading college undergraduate texts in astronomy and planetary science. He is a popular public writer and lecturer, promoting a scientific and fact-based perspective about such topics as Emmanuel Velikovsky's pseudocosmology,[14] the evolution-creationist conflict,[15] climate change denialism,[16] and the 2012 doomsday hoax.[17]
As a science communicator, he frequently debunks myths of mystery planets. In interviews in 2011 and 2017, Morrison explained that he receives five emails a day about a supposedNibiru cataclysm, an apocalyptic hoax, which he initially expected to be a short-lived phenomenon but which "keeps popping up" and is the subject of an estimated two million websites.[18][19][20] He launched aYouTube video about the 2012 hoax telling the public that they have nothing to worry about. The video was briefly featured in the opening credits of the 2013 filmWorld War Z, based on the 2006novel of the same name.
Morrison is aFellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of theCalifornia Academy of Sciences, and of theCommittee for Skeptical Inquiry; also a supporter (and member of the Advisory Council, since 2013[21]) of theNational Center for Science Education. He is also a Scientist Trustee of theCalifornia Academy of Sciences.
He has served as Councilor of theAmerican Astronomical Society, Chair of the Division for Planetary Science of the American Astronomical Society, President of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Chair of the Astronomy Section of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science, and both President of Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) and of the Working Group on Near Earth Objects of theInternational Astronomical Union.[5]
Morrison received theDryden Medal for research of theAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, theCarl Sagan Medal of theAmerican Astronomical Society for public Communication, and theKlumpke-Roberts Award of theAstronomical Society of the Pacific for his contributions to science education. NASA has also awarded him Outstanding Leadership medals twice as well as thePresidential Meritorious Rank.[5]
In 2015, David Morrison received the American Astronomical Society's (AAS) Education Prize in recognition for his outstanding contributions to the education of the public, students and future astronomers.[22]
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