Bringing Gravity to Light (2022 Lois McGlothlin Donaldson Endowed Lecture in Physics)
About The Lois McGlothlin Donaldson Endowed Lecture in Physics
March 25, 2022 | 6 PM Reception | 6:30 PM Lecture | University Center Theater
Reception and Lecture Free and Open to the Public | Convenient Parking in the Zach Curlin Parking Garage
Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann at the University of Memphis
Join us Friday evening, at 6:00 p.m. on March 25, 2022, to hear Dr. Kelly Holley-Bockelmann
of Vanderbilt University deliver the sixth annual Lois McGlothlin Donaldson Endowed
Lecture in Physics. Dr. Holley-Bockelmann will give an engaging description of the
concept of gravity waves and the information they carry. She will share the excitement
of the first gravity wave detection in 2015 and show how the Laser Interferometer
Gravity-Wave Observatories (LIGOs) work. We will hear about discovery highlights and
gain a new appreciation for gravity wave astronomy!
Biographical Information
Kelly Holley‐Bockelmann is an Associate Professor of Astronomy at Vanderbilt University,
where she joined the faculty in 2007. She received her B.S. in Physics at Montana
State University and her PhD in Astronomy in 1999 at the University of Michigan. After
her PhD, she did postdoctoral work at Case Western Reserve University and the University
of Massachusetts. In 2004, she joined the Center for Gravitational Wave Physics at
The Pennsylvania State University, where she became a big fan of gravitational waves
and attended many talks on loop quantum gravity that left her scratching her head.
Her main interests are in computational galaxy dynamics, black holes of all sorts,
and gravitational waves. She is a recipient of a Faculty Early Career Development
(CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation , is a Vanderbilt Chancellor Faculty
Fellow, and her work has also been supported by NASA. Dr. Holley Bockelmann’s research
on growing supermassive black holes and rogue black holes have been featured in many
online and print media outlets, though she still gets a bit nervous talking to the
press.
As a first-generation college graduate within a family that sometimes lived below the poverty level, Dr. Holley-Bockelmann has a deep interest in broadening the participation of women, minorities, and first-generation college students in science. She is the Co-Director of the Fisk-to-Vanderbilt Master's-to-PhD Bridge Program, which is designed to mentor a diverse cohort of graduate students to develop the skills needed to succeed as a PhD scientist.