The Jason A. Cardelli Memorial Award for Undergraduate Research is presented to a graduating Astronomy & Astrophysics major whose body of undergraduate research work exhibits particularly high standards of independence, originality, and quality. The award is named for former Departmental faculty member Jason A. Cardelli (1955-1996).
Jason Cardelli was a faculty member in the Department of Astrophysics & Planetary Science from January 1995 until his sudden death by heart attack in May 1996. As an astronomer, Jason specialized in studies of the interstellar medium, including measurements of the gas-phase composition of interstellar “clouds” and the optical properties of solid-phase dust particles in interstellar space – both lending insight into the chemical evolution of the Milky Way galaxy. Jason loved doing astronomical research. He was original, creative, energetic, and thorough in his work. As a person, Jason was warm, witty, and open. He had an opinion about everything and was always happy to share and debate those opinions. Jason’s friends, both within the Department of Astrophysics & Planetary Science and elsewhere, still remember him vividly. The Cardelli Memorial Award was created to honor Jason, to help keep the memories alive, and to share the memories with those not fortunate enough to have known him. (A complete obituary can be found in http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1996BAAS...28.1447M)
The current cash value of the Cardelli Memorial Award is approximately $2,000. Contributions to the Cardelli fund are still being accepted. For additional information, please contact the Departmental Office at 610-519-4820.
Recipients of the Cardelli Memorial Award:
1997 Dirk M. Fabian
1998 Steven Margheim
2001 Joseph M. dePasquale
2002 John J. Bochanski, Jr.; Jeremy F. Sepinsky
2003 Lisa M. Winter
2004 Joel A. Urban
2005 Ryan A. Hamilton
2008 Nicholas P. Hollom; Robert T. Zellem
2011 Ronald-Louis Ballouz
2013 Alexandra Bisol; Allyn J. Durbin
2014 Cole C. Johnston
2015 Savannah R. Jacklin
2016 John J. Ruby IV
2017 Valerie Bernstein; Marcus Katynski
2018 Elizabeth A. Johnson
2019 Giannina Guzman; Joseph Michail