Physics Professors Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge Win Gold Medal

By Kim McDonald | March 7, 2005

Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge Photo Credit: John McFarland

The Royal Astronomical Society in England has awarded physics professors Geoffrey and Margaret Burbidge the society's Gold Medal, its highest honor, for their contributions to astronomy during more than half a century.

The two astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences are perhaps most well known for their work in the mid-1950s describing how stars synthesize nearly all the chemical elements in the universe, from iron and oxygen to carbon and copper.

The society cited the pair "for their joint contributions to astronomical research and their impressive record of service to the community, including Professor Geoffrey Burbidge's 30-year tenure as editor-in-chief of the Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and Professor Margaret Burbidge's Presidency of the American Astronomical Society."