Duncan Lorimer

Duncan Lorimer is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at West Virginia University (WVU), holding the Eberly Distinguished Chair for Academic Excellence. He is affiliated with the Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology and has served as Associate Dean for Research in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences (2019–2024). His research focuses on pulsars, fast radio bursts (FRBs), and neutron stars, with contributions to gravitational wave detection through pulsar timing arrays like NANOGrav.

Education: BSc in Astrophysics (University of Wales, 1990), PhD in Pulsar Astronomy (University of Manchester, 1994). Former positions include roles at the Max Planck Institute, Cornell University, and the University of Manchester. At WVU, he received the Cottrell Scholar Award (2008) and Benedum Scholar recognition (2019). Recognitions include Fellowships from the Royal Astronomical Society (1994), American Physical Society (2018), and Royal Society (FRS, 2024), alongside the Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2023) for co-discovering FRBs.

Research Interests: Demographics of compact objects, pulsar populations, FRB origins, gravitational wave backgrounds, and interstellar medium studies. Active in large-scale surveys like the FAST Globular Cluster Pulsar Survey and the GREENBURST FRB project. His work bridges observational astronomy, theoretical astrophysics, and interdisciplinary collaborations.

Awards: Shaw Prize (2023), FRS (2024), APS Fellowship (2018), Benedum Scholar (2019), Cottrell Scholar (2008), and WVU teaching excellence awards (2009–2010). His contributions to NANOGrav's 15-year dataset provided groundbreaking evidence for a nanohertz gravitational wave background.

Labs/Teams: Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, NANOGrav collaboration, and the Pulsar Search Collaboratory. His research emphasizes both fundamental astrophysics and public engagement through educational initiatives.