Stephen J. Mackwell | |
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| Born | (1956-06-05)June 5, 1956 (age 68) |
| Alma mater | University of Canterbury,Christchurch,New Zealand Australian National University,Canberra,Australia |
| Awards | Asteroid 5292 Mackwell (2016) Fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science (2017) Fellow of theAmerican Geophysical Union (2010) Stipendiat derAlexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (1996) Ministère de L'Education Nationale, Academie de Lille, Nommé Professeur (1996) Fellow of theMineralogical Society of America (1996) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geophysics,Planetary Science |
| Institutions | Lunar and Planetary Institute Universities Space Research Association American Institute of Physics Rice University University of Maryland National Science Foundation |
Stephen J. Mackwell is a researcher ingeophysics, specializing in laboratory-based studies of the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of geological materials. He is also interested in the transport of fluid components inmantle and crustal rocks on the microscopic and macroscopic scales, and on the effects of such components on mechanical properties.[1] He has authored or co-authored over 80 articles in international scientific journals and is an editor of a book on comparative climatology of terrestrial planets published by theUniversity of Arizona Press.[2]
Stephen J. Mackwell received a B.Sc. inPhysics andMathematics in August 1978 at theUniversity of Canterbury inChristchurch,New Zealand. He continued his studies at the University of Canterbury and earned his M.Sc. in Physics in August 1979. His master's thesis was titled "Excitation Temperatures for Late Type Stars." He went on to receive hisDiploma of Education at Christchurch Teachers College in New Zealand in November 1979. He earned his Ph.D. in Geophysics in March 1985 from the Research School of Earth Sciences of theAustralian National University,Canberra,Australia. His dissertation was titled "Diffusion and Weakening Effects of Water in Quartz and Olivine."[3]
Stephen J. Mackwell worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department ofMaterials Science andEngineering atCornell University inIthaca, New York, from 1984 to 1987, and then moved to thePennsylvania State University inUniversity Park, Pennsylvania, as anassistant professor in 1987 and subsequentlyassociate professor ofgeosciences in 1992. He was program director for geophysics in the Earth Sciences Division at theNational Science Foundation inWashington, D.C., from 1993 to 1994, and spent 1996 as an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut inBayreuth,Germany. In 1998, Mackwell became afull professor for experimental geophysics at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut at theUniversity of Bayreuth. In January 2000 he was appointed director of the Bayerisches Geoinstitut and served there until December 2002.[4]
Mackwell returned to theUnited States in late 2002 as director of theLunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) inHouston,Texas, a division of theUniversities Space Research Association (USRA).[5] In addition, Mackwell managed USRA's Houston facility and education programs including the NASA Internships Program and theAir Force Research Laboratory Intern Program. In 2016,Louise Prockter became the Director of the LPI, and Mackwell was named as the USRA Corporate Director of Science Programs.[6]
Mackwell has served on the editorial board of several planetary science journals, including serving as editor-in-chief for the journalGeophysical Research Letters from 2002 to 2004. He served on the advisory board for the journalPhysics and Chemistry of Minerals from 1996 to 2004.[7] Mackwell has participated in the 2013–2022Planetary Science Decadal Survey Steering Group and Inner Planets Panel.[8]Since 2018, he is a member of the Space Studies Board, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, of theNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.[9]
Mackwell has been anadjunct professor in the Department of Earth Science atRice University in Houston, Texas since 2005, in the Department of Earth Science at theUniversity of Minnesota from 2021 to 2022, and the Department of Geology at theUniversity of Maryland - College Park since 2022.
From February 2019 until June 2021, Mackwell served as the Deputy Executive Officer of theAmerican Institute of Physics in College Park, MD.
From April 2022 to March 2025, Mackwell served as the Section Head for Disciplinary Programs and subsequently Deputy Division Director (Acting) in the Division of Earth Sciences of the Geosciences Directorate at theNational Science Foundation in Alexandria, VA.
Stephen J. Mackwell has been named Fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science in 2017; Fellow of theAmerican Geophysical Union in 2010; Stipendiat derAlexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bayreuth, Germany in 1996;Ministère de L'Education Nationale, Academie de Lille, Nommé Professeur in 1996; and Fellow of theMineralogical Society of America in 1996.
In 2016, Mackwell was honored by theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU) with the naming of main-belt asteroid 5292 Mackwell (formerly designated as 1991 AJ1).[10]
Hitoshi Shiozawa andMinoru Kizawa originally discovered asteroid 5292 Mackwell on January 12, 1991, inFujieda,Shizuoka Prefecture,Japan. 5292 Mackwell has anabsolute magnitude of 11.9 and is part of the mainasteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of planetsMars andJupiter.
Mackwell S. J., Simon-Miller A. A., Harder J. W., and Bullock M. A., eds. (2013)Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets. University of Arizona Press, Tucson, AZ. 592 pp.
Demouchy S. and Mackwell S. (2006) Mechanisms of hydrogen incorporation and diffusion in iron-bearing olivine.Physics and Chemistry of Minerals, 33, 347,doi:10.1007/s00269-006-0081-2.
Mackwell S. J., Zimmerman M. E., and Kohlstedt D. L. (1998) High-temperature deformation of dry diabase with application to tectonics on Venus.Journal of Geophysical Research–Solid Earth, 103(B1), 975–984,doi:10.1029/97JB02671.
Kohlstedt D. L., Evans B., and Mackwell S. J. (1995) Strength of thelithosphere: Constraints imposed by laboratory experiments.Journal of Geophysical Research–Solid Earth, 100(B9), 17587–17602,doi:10.1029/95JB01460.
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