Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Rosemary F.G. Wyse elected to National Academy of Sciences

Rosemary F.G. Wyse, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, is among 120 members and 30 international members elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Image caption: Rosemary Wyse

The new members were elected to the NAS at the conclusion of its 162nd annual meeting. The honor recognizes members' distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Membership is a widely accepted mark of excellence in science and is considered one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive. Wyse and her fellow honorees will be formally inducted next year at the 2026 NAS mnnual meeting.

Wyse is a fellow of the the American Astronomical Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her research focus is in the field of galaxy formation and evolution, with emphases on resolved stellar populations and the nature of dark matter. The work has played a significant role in advancing scientific understanding of the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies. Wyse developed the first model showing a thick disk—composed chiefly of older stars—as a natural consequence of the dynamical evolution of disk galaxies.

Those elected this year bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556. International members are nonvoting members of the academy, with citizenship outside the United States. The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and—with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.