|
Hi-Res Images
(Click for larger version)
|
Chancellor Córdova assumed her duties as the seventh chancellor of the University of California, Riverside on July 1, 2002. Prior to joining UC Riverside, Córdova, a nationally recognized astrophysicist, served as professor of physics and vice chancellor for research at UC Santa Barbara.
Before joining UC Santa Barbara in 1996 she was chief scientist at NASA from 1993 to 1996, serving as the primary scientific advisor to the NASA administrator and the principal interface between NASA headquarters and the broader scientific community. Córdova headed the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Pennsylvania State University from 1989 to 1993 and served as deputy group leader of the Space Astronomy and Astrophysics Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1979 to 1989.
The scientific contributions of Córdova's career have been in the areas of observational and experimental astrophysics, multi-spectral research on X-ray and gamma ray sources, and space-borne instrumentation. She has published more than 130 scientific papers.
Córdova is the winner of NASA's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Medal. This year, the National Research Council named her a National Associate of the National Academies in recognition of extraordinary service.
Córdova was named one of the "100 Most Influential Hispanics" by Hispanic Business Magazine in 1997 and again in 2002, and in April 2002 was named one of "80 Elite Hispanic Women" by the magazine. She also received the Hispanic Achievement Award in Science and Technology from Hispanic magazine in 1997.
The oldest of 12 children, Córdova attended high school in La Puente, Calif., east of Los Angeles. She then entered Stanford University, where she graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in English and, among other activities, conducted anthropology field work in a Zapotec Indian pueblo in Oaxaca, Mexico. She attained a Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1979.
Córdova is married to Christian J. Foster, a science educator, and has two teenage children - Anne-Catherine and Stephen.
|
