Dr. Paul Hertz, Director Astrophysics Division
Paul Hertz was named Director of the Astrophysics Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA in March 2012. He is responsible for the Agency’s research programs and missions necessary to discover how the universe works, explore how the universe began and developed into its present form, and search for Earth-like planets. He previously served as the Chief Scientist of the Science Mission Directorate, managing the Directorate’s science solicitation activities and ensuring the scientific integrity of the Directorate’s programs. He served as Assistant Associate Administrator, Senior Advisor, or Chief Scientist for SMD since 2004, serving six Associate Administrators.
Dr. Hertz joined the NASA Office of Space Science as a detailee in 1997 and as Senior Scientist in 2000. He led the formulation of the Beyond Einstein Initiative which was proposed by the President in January 2003 and approved by Congress in January 2004. He served as Program Executive for the Chandra X-ray Observatory and moderated several Space Science Updates including the announcement in 2003 of a black hole powering the lowest note ever detected in the universe (57 octaves below Middle C) and in 2004 of a star being ripped apart by a supermassive black hole. He managed mission operations and data analysis programs, and he conducted the first Senior Review for planetary missions. He also served as SOFIA Program Scientist and as Discovery Program Scientist. Dr. Hertz served as the Explorer Program Scientist for 6 years. During that period, he issued 4 Explorer Announcements of Opportunity, received 163 proposals, conducted 21 site visits, and presided over the selection of 8 Explorers and 3 Missions of Opportunity for flight (of which 6 have been launched successfully, 1 has been launched unsuccessfully, 3 have been terminated, and 1 awaits launch as of March 2012). Developing cost-capped space missions is a tough business.
Dr. Hertz received BS degrees in both Physics and Mathematics from MIT in 1977. He received a MA in 1978 and a PhD in 1983, both from Harvard University in Astronomy. After a two year National Research Council fellowship, he joined the staff of the Naval Research Laboratory in 1985 as an astrophysicist, a position he held until 2000. Dr. Hertz's research concentrated on X-ray emission from galactic neutron stars, black holes, and globular clusters. He authored or co-authored over 100 papers, including observational papers in every band of the electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma ray as well as theory and computation papers. From 1993-2001 he was Associate Professor of Computational Sciences and Space Sciences at George Mason University. Dr. Hertz is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Xi, the American Astronomical Society, the International Astronomical Union, and the Society for American Baseball Research. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Presidential Rank Award, the Robert J. Trumpler Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the Alan Berman Research Publication Award of the Naval Research Laboratory (twice), and multiple NASA Group Achievement Awards.
Dr. Hertz is married with three children. He has a passion for baseball which he exercises by leading his coworkers on annual treks to attend games at Nationals Park. In 2004, Dr. Hertz met the Orioles Bird when he was honored by the Baltimore Orioles as a "Heavy Hitter." In 2006, he made his Broadway debut as Contestant #28 in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee." He made his Hollywood debut as a Nationals fan in the 2010 James L. Brooks film "How Do You Know." In 2011, Dr. Hertz received the Washington Nationals’ Spirit Award during a pre-game ceremony hosted by the team’s mascot, Screech.