Dr. Cherilynn Morrow

Dr. Cherilynn Morrow assumed a position as the first education-focused professor of Physics & Astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia in January 2008. Dr. Morrow holds a PhD in Astrophysical, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has a long-lived interest in aviation and space interspersed with research in solar physics and distinction as an innovator in science and math education.

While earning her BS in Physics from George Mason University, Dr. Morrow served as a government intern reporting on Soviet space activities and as cadet commander of her Civil Air Patrol squadron. During this time she also won a Dadaelian Society scholarship that allowed her to earn her private pilot's license. As a graduate student in Boulder, CO she served as president of CU's Space Interest Group and moderated a highly visible public debate on the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) between Dr. Richard Garwin of the Union of Concerned Scientists and (then USAF Captain) Pete Worden. In this same era, Dr. Morrow was selected to attend a Student Pugwash conference at Princeton University that was devoted to dialog about the military uses of space. Following a two-year post-doctoral appointment at Cambridge University, Cherilynn chose to return to her interests in space education. She served for two years as the Associate Director of the Colorado Space Grant College where she designed and implemented a novel, interdisciplinary course/seminar series on Space Experimentation that was delivered to several Colorado colleges and universities.

In the Fall of 1992, Dr. Morrow accepted a position as a Visiting Senior Scientist in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. At NASA she worked on a team that prepared the NASA Administrator's first space policy speech for scientists, co-presented at the 2nd annual United Nations Workshop on Basic Space Science for Developing Countries, authored the first draft of a strategic plan for integrating education and public outreach into the mission of the Office of Space Science, provided several briefings to government executives for the Brookings Institute, and served as one of three NASA presenters at a meeting convened by Dr. Carl Sagan about how NASA could communicate more effectively with the public. Dr. Morrow was also privileged to provide a one-on-one, half-day training on the NASA Astrophysics program foreducator-astronaut Barbara Morgan as well as numerous workshops/presentations on NASA space science for other K-12 educators.

Following her NASA appointment, Dr. Morrow worked at the Space Science Institute and the SETI Institute, providing more than a decade of service as a national leader, consultant, and workshop facilitator in support of integrating high-quality education and public outreach programs into scientific research environments. During this time, Dr. Morrow helped to launch the first education-focused sessions at professional society meetings such as the American Geophysical Union and COSPAR. She also became renowned for her extensive outreach to Navajo educators and her novel contributions to education and public outreach in astronomy (e.g. the Saturn Educator Guide, Kinesthetic Astronomy, AstroJazz, and a Planetary Society blog of the September 2007 launch of Kaguya - the Japanese mission to the Moon).