Tucson Standard

Jane Rigby, an alumna of the University of Arizona's Department of Astronomy, has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden. This prestigious honor recognizes her significant contributions to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) mission and her dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion in science.

Rigby played a pivotal role at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, facilitating JWST's transition from commissioning to regular scientific operations. Her work on JWST spans many years, focusing on characterizing its science performance. The telescope is currently surpassing expectations, delivering groundbreaking insights into the cosmos.

Her research with JWST employs gravitational lensing to explore early universe galaxies' properties—a study that began during her doctoral research at UArizona Steward Observatory. She leads the TEMPLATES project, which utilizes high signal-to-noise spectroscopy to create detailed images of four lensed galaxies.

George Rieke, Rigby's doctoral adviser and Regents Professor of astronomy and planetary sciences, expressed pride in her achievements: "It is wonderful when a former student does so well and has already had a big impact on the field."

In addition to the Medal of Freedom, Rigby has received numerous accolades including the NASA Robert H. Goddard Award for Exceptional Achievement for Science and recognition in Nature's 10 Ones to Watch in 2022. She was also one of BBC's 100 women and presented the first JWST results to President Biden.

Rigby reflected on Webb’s impact: "Webb has become a symbol not only of technical excellence and scientific discovery but also of how much humanity can accomplish when we all work together."

A version of this article originally appeared on the College of Science website.