{{short description|American physicist and professor}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Angela Villela Olinto | image = Angela V. Olinto.jpg | alt = Angela V. Olinto | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|07|19}} | birth_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | nationality = | occupation = {{hlist|Astroparticle physicist|provost|professor}} | years_active = | thesis_year = 1987 | known_for = | spouse = Sérgio Assad | education = {{Unbulleted list|Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (BS)| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) }} | workplaces = University of Chicago<br />Columbia University | thesis_title = The astrophysics of strange matter | thesis_url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/303645741/ | field = Astrophysics | awards = {{ubl | Fellow, National Academy of Sciences | Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences | Fellow, Brazilian Academy of Sciences | Commander, Order of Rio Branco }} | notable_works = }} '''Angela Villela Olinto''' (born July 19, 1961) is an American and Brazilian astroparticle physicist who is the Provost of Columbia University and Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics. Previously, she served as the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago as well as the dean of the Physical Sciences Division. Her current work is focused on understanding the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/angela-olinto-named-dean-physical-sciences-division|title=Angela Olinto named dean of Physical Sciences Division|website=University of Chicago News|date=7 June 2018 |access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Olinto was born in Boston, Massachusetts, during her father's graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The family moved back to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, when she was a toddler. She lived in Rio and Brasilia and received her bachelor's degree in physics from Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1981. As she was finishing her undergraduate studies, she became ill with what was later diagnosed as polymyositis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaas.org/angela-olintos-cosmic-needle-haystack|title=Angela Olinto's cosmic needle in a haystack|website=American Association for the Advancement of Science|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref> She pursued graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a Doctor of Philosophy in Physics in 1987.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/depot/pdf/cv-olinto-angela__3.pdf|title=Angela V. Olinto CV|last=Olinto|first=Angela|website=Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at UChicago|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref>
== Career == After her Ph.D., Olinto joined the Fermilab Theoretical Astrophysics Group as a postdoc. From Fermilab, Olinto moved to the University of Chicago where she became the first tenured woman in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. She also has an appointment at the Enrico Fermi Institute and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago. She served as chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics from 2003 to 2006 and again from 2012 to 2017. In 2006, she received the Chair d'Excellence Award from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche and served as visiting professor in the Laboratoire d'AstroParticule et Cosmologie (APC). In 2018, she became the first female dean of the Physical Sciences Division at the University of Chicago.<ref name=":0" /> Olinto has given over 500 lectures worldwide and published over 250 papers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://inspirehep.net/author/profile/A.V.Olinto.1|title=Olinto, Angela V. - Profile - INSPIRE-HEP|website=inspirehep.net|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref> On April 1, 2024, she joined Columbia University as provost and is the Lewis Morris Rutherfurd Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Announcing Angela V. Olinto as Provost of Columbia University {{!}} Office of the President |url=https://president.columbia.edu/news/announcing-angela-v-olinto-provost-columbia-university |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=president.columbia.edu}}</ref>
== Research == Throughout Olinto's career, she has made theoretical and experimental contributions to astroparticle physics, including contributions to the study of the structure of neutron stars, inflationary theory, the origin and evolution of cosmic magnetic fields, the nature of dark matter, and the origin of the highest energy cosmic particles: cosmic rays, gamma-rays, and neutrinos.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/origins|title=Origins|work=The University of Chicago Magazine|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Blasi|first1=P.|last2=Epstein|first2=R. I.|last3=Olinto|first3=A. V.|date=2000-04-20|title=Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays from Young Neutron Star Winds|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|volume=533|issue=2|pages=L123–L126|issn=0004-637X|pmid=10770705|doi=10.1086/312626|bibcode=2000ApJ...533L.123B|arxiv=astro-ph/9912240|s2cid=6026463}}</ref>
Olinto emerged as a leader of the science behind the 3,000 km<sup>2</sup> Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue, Argentina, built and operated by a 19-country collaboration. Her group pioneered in depth studies of the physics and astrophysics of ultra-high energy cosmic ray (UHECR) including the propagation and neutrino production of UHE nuclei and acceleration models based on newborn pulsars.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Fang|first1=Ke|last2=Kotera|first2=Kumiko|last3=Olinto|first3=Angela V.|date=2012|title=Newly Born Pulsars as Sources of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays|journal=The Astrophysical Journal|volume=750|issue=2|pages=118|doi=10.1088/0004-637X/750/2/118|issn=0004-637X|bibcode=2012ApJ...750..118F|arxiv=1201.5197|s2cid=9129110}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/research/auger.php|title=The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics {{!}} Pierre Auger Observatory|website=astro.uchicago.edu|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref>
Starting in 2012, Olinto served as the United States principal investigator of JEM-EUSO (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on-board of the Japanese Experiment Module of the International Space Station) mission—an international collaboration involving 16 countries to discover the origin of the highest energy cosmic rays.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/research/jem-euso.php|title=The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics {{!}} Extreme Universe Space Observatory at the Japanese Module|website=astro.uchicago.edu|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref><ref name="astro.uchicago.edu">{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/people/angela-v-olinto.php|title=The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics {{!}} Angela V. Olinto|website=astro.uchicago.edu|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
Olinto is the principal investigator of [https://eusospb.uchicago.edu EUSO-SPB (Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon)], a series of NASA super-pressure balloon missions. EUSO-SPB1 flew in April 2017 with a Fluorescence Telescope developed for JEM-EUSO. EUSO-SPB2 combines a more sensitive Fluorescence Telescope and a novel Cherenkov Telescope designed to search for up-going tau showers produced by astrophysical tau neutrinos. EUSO-SPB2 had a short flight from Wānaka, New Zealand, during the Spring 2023 campaign.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/research/euso-spb.php|title=The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics {{!}} Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon|website=astro.uchicago.edu|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref>
Starting in 2017, Olinto serves as principal investigator for POEMMA (Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics), providing the conceptual design for the NASA space mission. The study was presented to the Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020 Decadal Survey. EUSO-SPB2 is a pathfinder for the POEMMA mission.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://astro.uchicago.edu/research/poemma.php|title=The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics {{!}} Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics|website=astro.uchicago.edu|access-date=2018-10-01}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Olinto|first1=A. V.|last2=Adams|first2=J. H.|last3=Aloisio|first3=R.|last4=Anchordoqui|first4=L. A.|last5=Bergman|first5=D. R.|last6=Bertaina|first6=M. E.|last7=Bertone|first7=P.|last8=Bustamante|first8=M.|last9=Christl|first9=M. J.|title=Proceedings of 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2017) |chapter=POEMMA: Probe of Extreme Multi-Messenger Astrophysics |date=2017-08-24|volume=301|pages=542|doi=10.22323/1.301.0542 |arxiv=1708.07599|bibcode=2017ICRC...35..542O|s2cid=260708495 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The next project on the POEMMA development path is the POEMMA-Balloon with Radio (PBR), which is under construction to fly in a NASA superpressure balloon in 2027.
== Awards and honors ==
* Commendor of the Order of Rio Branco, Brasil 2022 * Elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2021 NAS Election|url=http://www.nasonline.org/news-and-multimedia/news/2021-nas-election.html|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.nasonline.org}}</ref> * Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2021 AmAcad Election|url=https://www.amacad.org/new-members-2021|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.amacad.org}}</ref> * Elected to the Academia Brasileira de Ciências in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2021 ABC Election|url=https://www.abc.org.br/membro/angela-villela-olinto/}}</ref> * Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the College, The University of Chicago. (2017)<ref name=":1" /> * Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring, The University of Chicago. (2014-2015)<ref name=":1" /> * Homer J. Livingston Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the College, The University of Chicago. (2013–2016)<ref name=":1" /> * Hess Lecturer of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference. (2013)<ref name=":1" /> * Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (2012)<ref name=":1" /> * Awarded the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, The University of Chicago (2011)<ref name=":1" /> * Awarded Chaire d'Excellence of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche. (2006)<ref name=":1" /> * Speaker Award of the Particles and Nuclei International Conference (PANIC 05). (2005)<ref name=":1" /> * Convocation Speaker for the 478th Convocation at the University of Chicago. (2004)<ref name=":1" /> * Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. (2001)<ref name=":1" /> * Awarded the Arthur H. Compton Lecturer, Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago. (1991)<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == Olinto is married to classical guitarist Sérgio Assad.<ref>{{Citation |title=O buraco negro no centro da Via Láctea {{!}} Musk, o sideral {{!}} Violência da polícia {{!}} Doria colapsou |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr-Mdqyh50Q |language=en |access-date=2022-05-27}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{INSPIRE-HEP author}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olinto, Angela}} Category:Astroparticle physics Category:University of Chicago faculty Category:Fermilab Category:1961 births Category:Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro alumni Category:Scientists from Boston Category:Academics from Boston Category:Fellows of the American Physical Society Category:21st-century American physicists Category:Brazilian physicists Category:Living people Category:MIT Center for Theoretical Physics people Category:American women academics Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Category:21st-century American women physicists