Elizabeth Lada

Astronomy Department Chair

Elizabeth Lada received her BS in Physics from Yale University in 1983 and PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas in 1990. She spent 3.5 years as a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and then 3 more years as a Hubble Fellow at the University of Maryland. She joined the faculty at the University of Florida in the fall of 1996.  She has been Chair of the Department of Astronomy since 2018. Lada was named a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in 2003 and received the Annie J. Cannon Prize from the AAS in 1992. She was awarded an NSF CAREER award in 1998 and in 1999 she received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Her research is focused on understanding star and planet formation. In particular, she has made significant contributions to our understanding of the origin, properties, evolution, and fate of young embedded star clusters within molecular clouds. This includes investigations of the formation, evolution and lifetime of circumstellar, protoplanetary disks. Prof. Lada has published ~200 publications, including 77 refereed publications, with more than 15,000 citations and an H-index of 52 (Google Scholar). Lada has a distinguished service record, which includes having served as a member of the NSF Math & Physical Sciences Advisory Committee, NSF AST Senior Review Committee, the National Optical Astronomy System Roadmap Committee, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory’s Program Advisory Committee and the AURA Nominating Committee. She has been a member of the Universities Space Research Association’s (USRA) Board of Trustees since 2021. 

Dr. Lada’s role in the Astraeus Space Institute has been to build stronger connections between the Department of Astronomy, CLAS and the wider UF Space Community.  She founded the Beyond Earth’s Boundaries Speaker Series and hosted its inaugural Speaker Alan Stern in Spring 2023. In addition, she organized and hosted a panel discussion with former NASA and ESA Administrators.  She will continue participating in the development and organization of these speaker and discussion series.  In addition, she will work toward facilitating cross-campus collaborations for space initiatives, including mission and payload development for future space exploration.