Edward F Brown

Edward F Brown is a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University (MSU), with joint appointments in the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering (CMSE). He serves as Interim Chair of CMSE. His research focuses on stellar and nuclear astrophysics, particularly neutron star cooling mechanisms, accretion physics, and supernova dynamics. Brown holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley (1999) and has held fellowships at the University of Chicago, including an Enrico Fermi Fellowship (1999–2002).

Education:

• B.S., The Ohio State University (1993)
• Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley (1999)

Research interests include:

• Compact object thermodynamics
• Stellar explosions and nucleosynthesis
• X-ray binary systems
• Neutron star structure and cooling
• Supernova progenitor systems

His work has led to over 90 refereed publications and significant contributions to open-source tools like the MESA stellar evolution code and dStar neutron star thermal model. Awards include the 2022 College of Natural Science Meritorious Faculty Award and multiple teaching prizes for innovative pedagogy, such as the progressive computational project in AST 304.

Collaborations include the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA), an NSF Physics Frontier Center.