George Djorgovski

George Djorgovski is Professor of Astronomy and Data Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he has served since 1987, progressing from Assistant Professor to full Professor in 1997. He currently serves as Director of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery (CD3) since 2014 and previously served as Executive Officer for Astronomy from 2016-2019.

His research spans a broad range of topics in astronomy and cosmology including the structure and dynamics of globular clusters, fundamental properties of galaxies and their evolution, gamma-ray bursts, early phases of galaxy and structure formation, distant quasars, gravitational lenses, dark energy, and exploration of the time domain. He is a pioneer in large digital sky surveys, Virtual Observatory, and astroinformatics, with a particular focus on applying Machine Learning and AI to analyze complex astronomical datasets.

Djorgovski is deeply interested in how computational and information technology transforms scientific methodology across disciplines. His work on data science methodology transfer between fields, particularly from astronomy to medicine, represents a significant contribution to interdisciplinary science. He is developing tools for collaborative human-AI discovery and exploring Extended Reality technologies for science and education.

• Fellow, American Association for Advancement of Science, 2014
• First Prize, Boeing-Griffith Science Writing Contest, 2008
• Presidential Young Investigator, 1991–1997
• ISI 1000 most cited physicists, 1981–1997
• NASA Group Achievement Award, 1996
• Dudley Observatory Award, 1991
• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow, 1988–1991
• Harvard Junior Fellow, 1985–1987

As Director of the Center for Data-Driven Discovery, Djorgovski leads initiatives that address the challenges of exponential data growth across scientific disciplines. His work bridges astronomy with data science, creating general tools for 21st century scientific methodology. He is active in multiple professional societies including the International Astrostatistics Association and International Astroinformatics Association, which he helped establish.