Thomas Zurbuchen

Last updated

Thomas Zurbuchen
James Webb Space Telescope Briefing (NHQ202206290010).jpeg
Zurbuchen in 2022
Born1968 (age 5556)
NationalitySwiss, American
Education University of Bern
OccupationGovernment agency administrator
Employer ETH Zürich
Known forAssociate Administrator, NASA (2016-2022) [1]

Thomas Hansueli Zurbuchen (born 1968) is a Swiss-American astrophysicist. From October 2016 [2] until the end of 2022, he was the longest continually running Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. [3] [4] Prior to this, he was Professor of Space Science and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, where he helped found the Center for Entrepreneurship. [5]

Contents

Personal life and education

Zurbuchen was born and grew up in Switzerland as the child of a Free Church preacher. [6] He attended both high school and university against the wishes of his parents. [7] Zurbuchen studied physics at the University of Bern, with a minor in mathematics, and was awarded the PhD in 1996 with a thesis entitled "Turbulence in the interplanetary medium and its implications on the dynamics of minor ions". [8]

Career

Zurbuchen moved to the United States two weeks after completing his PhD. [9] He joined the University of Michigan as a research associate, and was made professor in 2008. His scientific research focuses on solar and heliospheric physics, experimental space research, and space systems; he is also well known for his personal work on innovation and entrepreneurship.[ citation needed ]

Zurbuchen served as team leader for the development of one of the scientific instruments aboard NASA's Messenger spacecraft to Mercury, the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer. [10] He chaired the National Academy of Sciences committee that produced a report in 2016 on Cubesats. [11]

From October 2016 [2] until the end of 2022, Zurbuchen was the longest continually running Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA. [3] [4] During this time, NASA launched 37 missions and started another 54. [12] [4] Among them were the James Webb Space Telescope, Perseverance and Ingenuity Mars Landings, DART, and many others for which he was responsible, and to the success of which he contributed majorly. [13] [4] Due to his work, Zurbuchen is routinely featured in interviews, public lectures, and podcasts, focussed on leadership innovation and management techniques, especially in complex organizations. Examples include, but are not limited to the Harvard Business Review, [14] the Knowledge Project, [15] (German) Chefgespräch, [16] and (German) Alles Gesagt. [17]

As of January 2023, Zurbuchen works as an international speaker. [18] [19] From August 2023, Zurbuchen will be director of ETH Zurich Space, [20] after having spent his entire professional career in the United States. Zurbuchen will work in Switzerland for 60% of the time, while continuing his speaking and consulting career. [9]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulf Merbold</span> German astronaut and physicist (born 1941)

Ulf Dietrich Merbold is a German physicist and astronaut who flew to space three times, becoming the first West German citizen in space and the first non-American to fly on a NASA spacecraft. Merbold flew on two Space Shuttle missions and on a Russian mission to the space station Mir, spending a total of 49 days in space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ETH Zurich</span> Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich

ETH Zurich is a public research university in Zürich, Switzerland. Founded in 1854 with the stated mission to educate engineers and scientists, the university focuses primarily on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It consistently ranks among the 20 best universities in the world and its 16 departments span a variety of disciplines and subjects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Zurich</span> Public university in Switzerland, founded 1833

The University of Zürich is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine which go back to 1525, and a new faculty of philosophy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Bolden</span> American astronaut and 12th NASA Administrator (born 1946)

Charles Frank Bolden Jr. is a former Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps Major General, and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack R. Lousma</span> American astronaut and politician (born 1936)

Jack Robert Lousma is an American astronaut, aeronautical engineer, retired United States Marine Corps officer, former naval aviator, NASA astronaut, and politician. He was a member of the second crew, Skylab-3, on the Skylab space station in 1973. In 1982, he commanded STS-3, the third Space Shuttle mission. Lousma was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 1997. He is the last living crew member of both of his spaceflights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dafydd Williams</span> Canadian astronaut, physician and public speaker (born 1954)

Dafydd Rhys "David" Williams is a Canadian physician, public speaker, author and retired CSA astronaut. Williams was a mission specialist on two Space Shuttle missions. His first spaceflight, STS-90 in 1998, was a 16-day mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia dedicated to neuroscience research. His second flight, STS-118 in August 2007, was flown by Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International Space Station. During that mission he performed three spacewalks, becoming the third Canadian to perform a spacewalk and setting a Canadian record for total number of spacewalks. These spacewalks combined for a total duration of 17 hours and 47 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Bern</span> University in the Swiss capital of Bern

The University of Bern is a public research university in the Swiss capital of Bern. It was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It is a comprehensive university offering a broad choice of courses and programs in eight faculties and some 150 institutes. With around 19,000 students, the University of Bern is the third largest university in Switzerland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Niggli</span> Swiss crystallographer, mineralogist and petrologist

Paul Niggli was a Swiss crystallographer, mineralogist, and petrologist who was a leader in the field of X-ray crystallography.

The New Frontiers program is a series of space exploration missions being conducted by NASA with the purpose of furthering the understanding of the Solar System. The program selects medium-class missions which can provide high science returns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karlsruhe Institute of Technology</span> Public university in Karlsruhe, Germany

The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is a public research university in Karlsruhe, Germany. The institute is a national research center of the Helmholtz Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Branco Weiss</span>

Branco Weiss was a Swiss entrepreneur and patron.

Prof. em. Dr. Armin Gruen is, since 1984, professor and head of the Chair of photogrammetry at the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry (IGP), Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland. Since 1 August 2009, he is retired and is now with the Chair of Information Architecture, ETH Zurich Faculty of Architecture. He is currently acting as a principal investigator on the Simulation Platform of the SEC-FCL in Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Stofan</span> Planetary geologist and NASA scientist

Ellen Renee Stofan is Under Secretary for Science and Research at The Smithsonian and was previously the Director of the National Air and Space Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arnold O. Benz</span> Swiss astrophysicist

Arnold O. Benz is a professor emeritus at the Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics in the Physics Department of ETH Zurich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Maurer</span> German astronaut (born 1970)

Matthias Josef Maurer is a German ESA astronaut and Materials scientist, who was selected in 2015 to take part in space training.

Michael Otmar Hengartner is a Swiss-Canadian biochemist and molecular biologist. From February 2020 he has been president of the ETH Board. Before that he was the president of the University of Zurich and president of the Swiss Rectors' Conference, swissuniversities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Kollros</span> Swiss mathematician

Louis Kollros was a Swiss mathematician. From 1909 to 1948 he was a professor ordinarius of geometry at ETH Zurich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Freilich (oceanographer)</span> American oceanographer (1954–2020)

Michael H. Freilich was an American oceanographer who served as director of the NASA Earth Science division from 2006–2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compton Spectrometer and Imager</span> Space observatory to study gamma rays

The Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI), is a gamma-ray telescope expected to launch in 2027 as a NASA small astrophysics mission. It is intended to study the recent history of star birth, star death, and the formation of chemical elements in the Milky Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory L. Robinson</span> American engineering manager (born 1960)

Gregory L. Robinson is an American engineer and the former director of the James Webb Space Telescope Program at NASA.

References

  1. "Thomas Zurbuchen: Transitioning to My Next Chapter". 14 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 "NASAWatch article announcing Zurbuchen's NASA appointment". 27 September 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Thomas Zurbuchen bio at NASA" . Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "NASA's Science Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen to Step Down". executivegov.com. 14 September 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  5. Chang, Kenneth (12 January 2023). "At NASA, Dr. Z Was OK With Some Missions Failing". The New York Times . Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  6. Aus der Freikirche ins All – Die steile Karriere des Nasa-Direktors Thomas Zurbuchen | Doku| SRF Dok, 21 February 2020, retrieved 3 May 2023
  7. Aus der Freikirche ins All – Die steile Karriere des Nasa-Direktors Thomas Zurbuchen | Doku| SRF Dok, 21 February 2020, retrieved 3 May 2023
  8. Zurbuchen, Thomas (1996). Astrophysics Data System reference for Zurbuchen's thesis (Report). Bibcode:1996PhDT........34Z.
  9. 1 2 Zurbuchen, Thomas (25 May 2023). "Thomas Zurbuchen - The Next Step, Across The Atlantic, As An Immigrant". SpaceRef. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  10. "FIPS Page at University of Michigan" . Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  11. "Achieving Science with CubeSats: Thinking Inside the Box (2016)" . Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  12. "Thomas Zurbuchen". Thomas Zurbuchen. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  13. "Launching the World's Biggest Space Telescope – Dr. Thomas Z". blogs.nasa.gov. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  14. "NASA's Science Head on Leading Space Missions with Risk of Spectacular Failure". Harvard Business Review. 18 October 2022. ISSN   0017-8012 . Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  15. "Thomas Zurbuchen: Adventures in Astrophysics [The Knowledge Project Ep. #108]". Farnam Street. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  16. Balzli, Beat (23 December 2022). "Podcast – Chefgespräch: NASA-Forschungschef Zurbuchen: "Ende der 2030er Jahre werden wir auf de". www.wiwo.de (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  17. "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". www.zeit.de. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  18. "Thomas Zurbuchen". Thomas Zurbuchen. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  19. "LinkedIn: Thomas Zurbuchen". LinkedIn. 1 January 2023.
  20. "Former NASA Science Director is joining ETH Zurich". ethz.ch. 25 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  21. "White House Announces Awards for Early Career Scientists and Engineers". PRNewswire. 4 May 2004. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  22. Greinacher Foundation. University of Bern. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  23. "Zurbuchen is Honorary Degree Recipient, Commencement Speaker | Northern Today". news.nmu.edu. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  24. Ballard, Kimberly (1 November 2022). "Space industry leaders honored at von Braun celebration". 256 Today. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  25. Putting all our energy into education. ETH Zurich, 19 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  26. "Der Deutsche Innovationspreis 2023 - 21. April 2023". Der Deutsche Innovationspreis 2023 (in German). Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  27. "RIT to confer five honorary degrees at May 12 commencement ceremony". rit.edu/news. Retrieved 15 May 2023.