Peking University, April 24, 2023: Luis C. Ho, PKU Chair Professor and Director of PKU's Kavli Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (KIAA), has been recently elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS).

The AAAS was founded in 1780 and recognizes excellence while convening leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people. 

Past members of the academy include renowned scientists such as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein, as well as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, Margaret Mead, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King. Current members are representatives and innovative thinkers from various fields, including over 250 Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winners.
 

Luis C. Ho

Luis C. Ho is an internationally recognized astrophysicist who has conducted extensive research on supermassive black holes and the evolution of galaxies, utilizing all observational techniques from radio to X-ray. He studied physics and astronomy at Harvard University in the United States from 1986 to 1990 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a doctorate in astronomy in 1995. He later worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics before accepting a position as a member of the Observatory Staff at the Carnegie Institution for Science in 1998.

In 2014, Ho was chosen to serve as the director of KIAA at Peking University, which aims to create a global center of excellence in astronomy and astrophysics and promote advancement in fundamental astrophysical research. In 2022, he became the only scientist from the Chinese mainland to be selected as a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society due to his groundbreaking work in multiwavelength searches for active galactic nuclei driven by black holes and for his leadership in helping China become a world power in astronomy.

Written by: Fu Jiaqi, Wang Jia En
Edited by: Dennis Meng
Source: PKU News (Chinese)