Nergis Mavalvala PhD '97
Professor Nergis Mavalvala was the first South Asian woman to join the faculty of the MIT School of Science, a position she has held since 2002. Born in Lahore, Pakistan and raised in Karachi, she graduated from Wellesley College with B.A. in physics and astronomy before moving to MIT in 1990 to pursue a PhD in Physics.
Mavalvala returned to MIT in 2002 as Assistant Professor in Physics. Since then, she has started numerous programs at MIT and has been the recipient of several awards, including the MacArthur “Genius Grant.” Mavalvala is currently the Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics, and she became the first woman and the first South Asian to serve as the Dean of the School of Science in 2020.
Nergis Mavalvala
Nergis Mavalvala’s PhD thesis: Alignment Issues in Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Detectors
Nergis Mavalvala’s Thesis Acknowledgements