DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENT

Christopher Martin was a member of the class of 1974. He attended Oberlin College where he graduated with Honors in Physics and was Phi Beta Kappa. Chris received a PhD in Physics from the University of California Berkeley before teaching Physics at Columbia University for 6 years. In 1993, he became Professor of Physics at the California University of Technology (Caltech), where he has taught ever since.

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Christopher’s research includes his role as Principal Investigator for GALEX, a NASA Small Explorer mission, which involves an orbiting space telescope observing galaxies in ultraviolet light across 10 billion years of cosmic history. GALEX’s observations are telling scientists how galaxies evolve and change. He conceived and designed the Cosmic Web Imager at Caltech, where astronomers can obtain the first three-dimensional pictures of the inter-galactic medium (IGM). Christopher has received numerous awards for his work, including the NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.