User:Leslie Morris Golden

Leslie Morris Golden received the B.A. with Distinction and Masters in Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he performed his masters’ thesis on erosion of lunar craters by micrometeorite impacts under Bruce Hapke and studied radio astronomy with Frank Drake. He was the award-winning editor-in-chief of the Cornell Engineer magazine. He received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked with Leland Cunningham on the software for calculations of comet orbits, Carl Heiles on the HI map of the galaxy, and W.H. McCrea on isotropy of radio source counts with position over the sky. He performed his dissertation, a microwave interferometric study of the subsurface of the planet Mercury, under William J. (“Jack”) Welch. The models he developed form the basis for many thermophysical models of planetary surfaces currently employed. He obtained a National Research Council Resident Research Associateship grant to continue studies of Mercury at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory under Michael Janssen and studied the time variability of quasars with E.E. Epstein at the Aerospace Corporation before obtaining his academic appointment at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he became affiliated with both the physics department and the Honors College. In 1986 Dr. Golden was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their on-board lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley’s Comet and in 1996 he was a visiting professor on the University of Pittsburgh’s Semester at Sea program. Among his many public speaking appearances, he was the featured speaker on the occasion of the dedication of the new wing of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium. Dr. Golden’s research and scholarly interests are planetary radio astronomy, observational selection effects, cosmology, and the history of astronomy. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi (engineering), Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences), and Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism). Dr. Golden has additional careers as a professional trumpet player, stand-up comedian, and professional actor. He has over 100 stage, screen, radio, television, and commercial credits. At the University of California, he was a jazz disk jockey, the play-by-play announcer for California Golden Bears basketball, and one of the founders, a trumpet player and vocalist, and the emcee for the University of California Jazz Ensembles. He also applies probability and statistics to popular casino games as a columnist for four London-based gambling magazines. He is a passionate animal welfare advocate and fervent environmentalist and shares his home with his rescued canine friends.