Prof. Gibor Basri has a BSc in Physics from Stanford University and a PhD in Astrophysics from the Univ. of Colorado, Boulder. He joined the faculty of the UC Berkeley Astronomy Dept. in 1982 and became a full professor in 1994. His work in the 1980s concentrated on star formation as well as continuing studies of stellar activity. In the 1990s he was a discoverer and world expert in the study of brown dwarfs (failed stars). He was lead author on a review article entitled “What is a Planet?” in 2005. He became involved in NASA’s Kepler mission in 2001; the mission launched in 2009 and revolutionized our understanding of exoplanets. His expertise was about the effects of stellar variability on the mission and to learn more about the observed stars.
He has served on committees that awarded major NASA and NSF grants and projects, and awarded time on the (world’s largest) Keck telescopes and others. He has written more than 200 technical publications, including numerous review articles. There are more than 25000 citations to his work.
Dr. Basri has always been involved in science education, encouraging the participation of underrepresented populations in science, and increasing diversity at the University. In 2007 he became the founding Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion at Berkeley. He officially retired in 2015, but serves on several Boards and selection committees, maintains an active research program, mentors students, and continues to work on diversity issues.
