Brian W. O'Shea

Brian W. O'Shea is a Professor at Michigan State University with joint appointments in the Department of Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering (since 2015), Department of Physics and Astronomy (since 2008), and Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (since 2014). He serves as Director of MSU's Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research and previously as Interim Director of the Bioinformatics Core.

• Education: PhD in Physics (2005), MS (2002), B.S. cum laude in Engineering Physics (2000) from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Advisor: Michael L. Norman (UC San Diego)

His research spans cosmological structure formation, galaxy evolution, and magnetohydrodynamic simulations, with a focus on the intergalactic medium, galaxy clusters, and machine learning applications in plasma modeling. He contributes to open-source tools like Enzo, Enzo-E, and Athena-PK for astrophysical simulations.

Recent publications emphasize exascale MHD simulations of supermassive black hole feedback, cold filament dynamics in galaxy clusters, and data-driven modeling of plasma systems. His work combines cosmological simulations with observational validation through projects like FOGGIE (resolving circumgalactic medium structure) and KODIAQ-Z (metallicity in intergalactic gas).

• Scientific Recognition:
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society (2016)
  • MSU Teacher-Scholar Award (2015)
  • Lilly Teaching Fellowship (2011-2012)
  • NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship (2008)
  • LANL Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship (2005-2008)
• Academic Leadership:
  • Director, Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research (2019-present)
  • Co-developer of innovative computational courses
  • Member of multiple research centers
  • Advocate for open-source science

As a computational education researcher, he designs active learning physics courses and co-founded MSU's Computational Education Research Lab. His administrative role as ICER Director includes a teaching release to focus on leadership responsibilities.