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Wendy FreedmanCanadian-American astronomer
Date of Birth: 17.07.1957
Country: ![]() |
Content:
- Biography of Wendy Friedman
- Early Life and Education
- Professional Career
- Awards and Recognition
- Personal Life
Biography of Wendy Friedman
Wendy Laurel Friedman, a Canadian-American astronomer, is best known for her measurements of the Hubble constant. She is the director of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California, and Las Campanas Observatory in Chile.

Early Life and Education
Wendy Laurel Friedman, daughter of a physician and a pianist, was born on July 17, 1957. Her early interest in science began during physics classes in high school. This interest led her to the University of Toronto, where Friedman initially studied biophysics before choosing astronomy as her major. In 1979, Wendy earned her bachelor's degree and stayed at the University of Toronto to pursue her graduate studies.

In 1984, Friedman received her Ph.D. in Astronomy and Astrophysics. She then completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California in 1984. Within three years, she became the first woman to be accepted as a permanent staff member at the observatory.

Professional Career
In 2003, Friedman became the chair of the astronomy department and director of the observatory. Her early scientific work primarily focused on the distance scale to Cepheids. However, her main project, the 'Hubble Key Project', was delayed due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986.
Looking back, Friedman believes that the delay was beneficial and allowed the project to improve computer and other technologies to handle the data volume from the Hubble Space Telescope. Friedman and her colleagues used the Hubble to measure distances to Cepheids between 1994 and 1999. They published the final results with an accuracy of 10%.
Awards and Recognition
Friedman is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Physical Society. She received the Magellanic Premium Award from the American Philosophical Society for her significant contributions to astronomical science.
In 1994, she was awarded the Marc Aaronson Lectureship for her achievements in astronomical research and received a monetary prize in recognition of her decade-long fundamental contributions to areas such as the stellar composition of galaxies and an additional distance scale in the galaxy.
In addition, Friedman has been honored with the Centennial Lectureship from the American Physical Society in 1999, the Cosmos Club Award in 2000, and the Gruber Cosmology Prize in 2009.
Personal Life
Wendy Friedman is married to her longtime colleague, Barry F. Madore. The couple has two children.