Renee Ludlam

Renee Ludlam is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Wayne State University. Her research focuses on neutron stars and black holes, using X-ray observations to study accretion physics, ultra-dense matter properties, and relativistic effects. She holds a Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics from the University of Michigan (2019) and has received prestigious awards including the 2023 Newton Lacy Pierce Prize and NASA Hubble Fellowship (2019-2022).

Education:

• Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Michigan, 2019

Research Interests:

• Neutron star radius and equation of state constraints using disk reflection
• Black hole spin determination via relativistic line modeling
• X-ray mission cross-calibration (XRISM, NICER, NuSTAR)

Teaching: Recent courses include Survey of Astrophysics (AST/PHY 6080/7080), Astrophysics and Stellar Astronomy (AST/PHY 5010), and Life in the Universe (AST 2030).

Labs/Teams: Supervises postdoctoral researcher Dr. Malu Sudha and graduate students Songwei Li, Hayden Hall, and David Moutard (graduated 2024).