Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Kurtis A. Williams

This page is a adaptation of my complete CV, also available as a PDF file here.

Table of Contents:

Employment Education Awards & Fellowships Grants
Research Activities Teaching & Outreach References

Employment

2006–presentNSF Postdoctoral Fellow
Univ.of Texas, Austin, TX		blank
2003–2006 Research Associate
Steward Observatory, Tucson, AZ		Supervisor:
Prof. Ann Zabludoff

Education

University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
Ph.D., 2002, Astronomy & Astrophysics
M.S., 1999, Astronomy & Astrophysics

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
B.S., 1996, with highest distinction and Honors, Astronomy & Astrophysics
B.S., 1996, with highest distinction, Physics

Awards & Fellowships

2006–2009 NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship
2005 Steward Observatory Lucas Award
2000–2001 ARCS Foundation Scholarship
1999 Albert P. Whitford Prize
1997–2000 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
1996–1997 Fulbright Fellowship, MPE, Germany

Grants

2008–2009 HST Cycle 16 E/PO HST16-456 (PI) $20k
2007–2009 HST Cycle 16 Program GO-11141 (PI) $133k
2006–2009 NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship AST-0602288 (PI) $201k
2003–2008 NSF 3-Year Award AST-0307492 (CoI) $195k

Research Experience

2006–present NSF Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Texas at Austin
  • Proper motion studies of faint stars in open clusters
  • Luminosity function of field disk and halo white dwarfs from the SDSS (as part of collaboration headed by Ted von Hippel)
  • Photometric and morphological studies of the environments of strong gravitational lenses
2003–2006 Research Associate
Steward Observatory
  • Characterization of the environments of strong gravitational lenses
  • Observational constrains of white dwarf cooling physics in open clusters
1997–2002 Graduate Research Assistant
UCSC, Advisor: Michael Bolte
Thesis Research:
  • Determination of the white dwarf initial-final mass relation
  • Derivation of the upper mass limit of WD progenitors
1996–1997 Fulbright Fellow
MPE, Garching, Germany
Supervisor: Wolfgang Brinkmann

Related Activities

2008 Invited Keynote Speaker, Royal Astronomical Society Specialist Discussion, Super-AGB Stars and the Fine Line Between White Dwarf or Supernova
2007 Co-chair, 2008 NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellows Symposium
2007 Co-chair, SOC, New Horizons in Astronomy: Frank N. Bash Symposium 2007
2007 Invited Speaker, KITP Conference, Paths to Exploding Stars

Teaching and Public Outreach Experience

2007 Instructor, Univ. of Texas, AST w392G Observing Techniques in Astronomy
2006–present Co-coordinator/Facilitator, White Dwarfs and the Age of the Galaxy Teacher Development Workshop'' at McDonald Observatory
2006 Lecturer, Steward Observatory Public Evening Lecture Series
2004–present Creator and manager, Professor Astronomy blog
2004–2006 Contributor, ``Ask Astro'' column, Astronomy magazine
1998–2002 Manager, Lick Observatory Ask-An-Astronomer website
1997–2000 Teaching Assistant, UCSC (4 semesters), Supervisors: Prof. Jean Brodie, Prof. Steven Vogt, Dr. Stephen Murray

References

Please contact me or see my PDF version of this CV for references.

Last modified: 2 December 2008