Nancy Levenson

Dr. Nancy A. Levenson is currently a senior scientist at the Space Telescope Science Institute. She is also a research professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Dr. Levenson served as the deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) from 2016 to 2025. From 2022 to 2024, she served as the interim director of STScI. In these roles, she provided leadership and vision for all activities at the institute and championed a science-driven approach to support our missions and the communities we serve. STScI, a world-class research facility, conducts science and flight operations for NASA’s flagship astronomical observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, and science operations for both the iconic Hubble Space Telescope and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. The Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) delivers data and enables advancement from these and dozens of other facilities. STScI engages the public with the current scientific discoveries and scientific potential of all these missions.

Before joining the institute, she served as the deputy director and head of science at Gemini Observatory, where she worked to make the observatory scientifically productive for the international community. She was previously tenured at the University of Kentucky in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Levenson started her career as a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University and as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned her PhD. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, attending public schools before continuing her education at Harvard University and Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Dr. Levenson’s research concentrates on active and star-forming galaxies, which appears in publications such as the Astrophysical Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. She has led key discoveries on the dust concentrations at the centers of galaxies and obscuration of their activity. She has been invited to present her work around the world at academic institutions and in professional symposia. She regularly serves as a reviewer for professional journals, national scientific organizations, and other institutions. Dr. Levenson is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the IAU (International Astronomical Union), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She has served in multiple roles on the AAAS Section on Astronomy steering committee. Dr. Levenson is a fellow of the AAAS.

Education:

PhD in Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
MA in Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
BA in Physics and Philosophy, University of Oxford
AB in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Harvard University

Science/Research Interests:

• Obscuration of active galactic nuclei
• Starburst/AGN connections
• Infrared galaxies
• Dust emission and obscuration
• X-ray astrophysics

Research Topics: Active Galactic Nuclei, Starburst Galaxies, Galaxies, Dust, Active and Star-Forming Galaxies, Infrared Observations

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4209-639X