Nebraska native explores galaxies far, far away
Growing up on a small farm in Nebraska, Megan Donahue ’85 discovered the wider world by reading her way through her local library. Today, she is learning how the wider universe works by studying galaxy clusters. Donahue discovered her passion for physics in that library at age 12 and started her path into astronomy thanks…
Megan Donahue '85, a native of Nebraska, developed an interest in the universe while growing up on a small farm. She credit her local library for sparking her curiosity, where she discovered the wonders of physics at the age of 12. A chance encounter through MIT's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program led her to cutting-edge x-ray imaging, which she found fascinating.
Today, she is a professor of physics and astronomy at Michigan State University, where she studies galaxy clusters and baryonic matter in order to gain a better understanding of the universe's composition and evolution. Donahue explains that galaxy clusters serve as "very large scoops of the universe," similar to taking a sample from the ocean to determine its average composition. She served as president of the American Astronomical Society from 2018 to 2020.
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