Jay Gallagher

Background

About Jay Gallagher

In September 2017, after 26 years in the position of Professor of Astronomy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I retired from the faculty. During this time my research focussed on understanding relationships between the structure and evolution of galaxies and their stellar populations with a secondary interests in interacting binary stars and high energy phenomena. This research evolved in multi-wavelength. multi-messenger directions, thanks in large measure to my collaborators who have shared their instrumental skills with me so that I and my collaborators could combine data to work across much of the electromagnetic spectrum on a variety of astrophysical problems and also contribute to the analysis of IceCube detections of cosmic neutrinos. I've been particularly intrigued by how less massive galaxies evolve and how they can influence their larger neighbors. Projects in this area range from studies of dwarf companions of giant galaxies to characterizing dwarf galaxy populations in galaxy clusters to more recent investigations of minor mergers between galaxies and the influence of their associated gas-rich tidal debris. Of course one does many different things as a member of a small but energetic faculty, such as ours in Madison. In my case these include involvement in our observatory partnerships with WIYN and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and associated instrumentation and student training. I'm also part of the astronomical contingent that works with the IceCube project and its associated Wisconsin IceCube Particle Astrophysics Center (WIPAC). In addition the opportunity to work with students of all ages is a major benefit from being on a faculty, and has guaranteed an interesting career throughout my 55 years in the field.