Sumner Starrfield
American astronomer
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Sumner Grosby Starrfield (born 29 December 1940) is an American astronomer.
Sumner Starrfield | |
|---|---|
Starrfield in 1976 | |
| Born | Sumner Grosby Starrfield December 29, 1940 |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Los Angeles |
| Known for | nova outbursts |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | astrophysics |
| Institutions | Arizona State University |
Starrfield earned a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and completed his master's and doctoral degrees at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1] He began teaching at Arizona State University in 1972,[2] and was later named a Regents' Professor at the institution.[3] In 1999, Starrfield was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society "[f]or fundamental contributions to our understanding of the cause and evolution of the nova outburst involving forefront observational and theoretical studies of these explosions."[4] From 2002 to 2005, Starrfield was head of the publication board for the American Astronomical Society, and later ran for the vice presidency.[5][6]
Starrfield is married to Susan Lee Hutt, with whom he raised three children.[7][8] The minor planet 19208 Starrfield is named for him.