I received a PhD in Physics from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1997, working at NASA/GSFC with Pete Serlemitsos and Rich Mushotzky on X-ray observations of starburst galaxies and low-luminosity active galactic nuclei. I am a member of the LSST galaxy and astrostatistics science teams. I am currently a member of the NuSTAR starburst and ULX teams, and am working on future strategic and explorer X-ray missions. Prior to coming to GSFC I worked as a post-doc under Prof. Richard Griffiths at Carnegie-Mellon University (1997-2001) and as a research scientist at the Johns Hopkins University (2001-2010).
Andrew Francis Ptak
(RESEARCH AST, FIELDS AND PARTICLES)
Org Code: 662
NASA/GSFCMail Code: 662
Greenbelt, MD 20771
Employer: NASA
Brief Bio
Research Interests
Extragalatic X-ray Astrophysics
Astrophysics: X-ray AstrophysicsMy main research interests are in the X-ray properties of starburst galaxies, particularly hot gas and ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs), and in active galactic nuclei. I am also interested in wide-area surveys and following up unusual sources with X-ray observations. I have a strong interest in astrophysics software development, having written an automated analysis program for Chandra and XMM-Newton data that produced one of the first serendipitous source catalogs for Chandra and XMM-Newton (https://asd.gsfc.nasa.gov/xassist/).
Positions/Employment
Graduate Student in Physics
University of Maryland, College Park - College Park, MD
October 1992 - October 1997
Thesis title: X-ray Constraints on Accretion and Starburst Processes in Galatic Nuclei
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Carnegie Mellon University - Pittsburgh, PA
November 1997 - August 2001
Associate Research Scientist
The Johns Hopkins University - Baltimore, MD
August 2001 - April 2010
Research Astrophysicist
NASA/GSFC - Greenbelt, MD
April 2010 - Present
NASA Athena Project Scientist
NASA - GSFC
February 2022 - Present
Acting HEASARC Director
NASA - GSFC
October 2023 - Present
NuSTAR Mission Scientist
NASA - GSFC
2018 - 2020
NuSTAR GOF Lead
NASA - GSFC
2014 - 2020
Professional Societies
AAS AAS HEAD
1993 - Present