Dan M. Watson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Senior Scientist, Laboratory for Laser Energetics University of Rochester Dan Watson is an experimental/observational astrophysicist whose research has included work on star and planetary-system formation, the structure and evolution of spiral galaxies, the nature and formation of active galactic nuclei, and the development of instruments and infrared detector arrays for astronomy. Currently he is busy with observations, analysis and ground-based followup of surveys of protostars and proplanetary disks made with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, and with ESA's Herschel Space Observatory. Dan received his bachelor's degree in physics (philosophy minor) from Revelle College, University of California, San Diego (1976); received his doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley (1983); and did his postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology. He joined the UR faculty in 1988. Besides his research and research-student mentoring, he teaches a variety of astronomy and physics courses. He served two terms as Chair of the UR Department of Physics and Astronomy, July 2013 - June 2019. University of Rochester Department of Physics and Astronomy Prospective graduate students, please note: admissions to our PhD program are made at the department level, not at the faculty research-group level. Use this link to start the process. Dan is sorry he cannot respond individually to the many pre-admission inquiries he receives.

To contact Dan: email dmw[at]pas.rochester.edu