Judith Young (astronomer)

Young received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Astronomy from Harvard University and graduated with Honors.^[5][6] She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Minnesota.^[6]

Young began a postdoctoral fellowship at UMass in 1979, collaborating with Nick Z. Scoville in a study which measured the cold gas and carbon monoxide content of galaxies.^[5] The pair made the discovery that the distribution of light and gas is proportional in galaxies.^[5] The American Astronomical Society awarded her the Annie J. Cannon Prize for this work in 1982.^[3][5]

Young became an assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1985.^[5] In 1989, Young was promoted to associate professor with tenure, and became a Full Professor in 1993.^[5] She published more than 130 papers, mentored 5 Ph.D. candidates, and supervised 15 undergraduate research projects.^[6]

Young is perhaps best known for her Sunwheel project.^[7] Young's goal for this project was to bring astronomy down to earth and to an empty lot behind the football stadium at the UMass-Amherst campus.^[6][7] In addition to her academic work, Young volunteered on the UMass campus and in her local community.^[5][6]

Young was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of astronomer Vera Rubin and mathematical biophysicist Robert Joshua Rubin, and sister to mathematician Karl Rubin.^[8][9]

She was married to Michael Young from 1975 to 1990^[1] and had a daughter, Laura.^[4]

Judith Young died from complications resulting from multiple myeloma, a disease she lived with for eight years.^[4][6]