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Dr. Russell A. Hulse was awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for his groundbreaking discovery of the first binary pulsar a celestial system in which two pulsars (rapidly spinning neutron stars) orbit each other. (Pulsars get their name from the regular, pulsating radio signals they emit.) Dr. Hulse’s finding has had a major impact on astrophysics and gravitational physics research, and ranks as one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century. Dr. Hulse received his B.S. degree in Physics from The Cooper Union in New York and a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1975. While at the University of Massachusetts, Dr. Hulse was approached by Dr. Joseph Taylor about doing pulsar research for his thesis. Using the large radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the two scientists discovered dozens of previously unknown pulsars. But after eight months of observation, Dr. Hulse reported to Dr. Taylor (who would be the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Prize) that a particular newly discovered pulsar with the name 1913 + 16 (the name being derived from its celestial coordinates) had irregularities in the timing of its radio pulses, and that these irregularities must be occurring because this pulsar is locked in a tight orbit with a companion star. This 1974 discovery provided a unique opportunity for testing and confirming aspects of Einstein’s general theory of relativity in particular, the prediction that massive objects accelerating at a high rate emit a new kind of radiation known as gravitational radiation. In 1977, Dr. Hulse switched from studying astrophysics to controlled thermonuclear fusion research and joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University. Dr. Hulse recently retired as a principal research physicist after 30 years at the Princeton laboratory. He is now a Regental professor and Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at the University of Texas at Dallas and a member of the Board of Directors at Battelle, a global science and technology company with $3 billion in annual revenue. | 