Bob Lysak has been a faculty member at the University of Minnesota’s School of Physics and Astronomy since 1982 and has been a member of the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics since its inception. Before coming to Minnesota, he received a Ph.D. in physics in 1980 at the University of California, Berkeley, under the supervision of Forrest Mozer and Mary Hudson. He did post-doctoral research at Berkeley and in Munich, Germany. He has specialized in the theory and modeling of auroral acceleration processes during all of that time and is recognized internationally as an expert in this field.
Bob has been honored by being named a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the American Physics Society, and was awarded the Hannes Alfvén Medal of the European Geosciences Union in 2015. He has also served as the editor of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, a major scientific journal.
Honors and Service
- 2011 American Geophysical Union Fellow.
- 2010–13 Senior Editor, Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics.
- 2010–present Member, Geospace Environmental Modeling Steering Committee.
- 2008 Main Scientific Organizer, Symposium on “Ionosphere-Magnetosphere Coupling: The Role of Alfvén Waves in Auroral Processes,” 37th COSPAR Scientific Assembly, Montreal, July.
- 2007 Co-director, School on “Turbulence and Waves in Space Plasmas,” International School of Space Science, L’Aguila, Italy, September.
- 2006 Co-convener, Symposium on “Ionosphere-Magnetosphere Coupling and Auroral Particle Acceleration, 36th COSPAR Scientific Assembly; Beijing, China, July.
- 2006 Co-editor, Magnetospheric ULF Waves: Synthesis and New Directions, AGU Monograph 169.
- 2006–10 Graduate School Fellowship Committee: member, 2006–08; co-chair, 2008–10.
- 2005–08 Best Dissertation Award Committee, Graduate School.
- 2005 Convener, Symposium on “Nonlinear and Kinetic Physics of ULF and VLF Waves,” AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco.
- 2005 Convener, Symposium on “Electrodynamics of Aurora,” 2005 IAGA Scientific Assembly, Toulouse, France, July.
- 2004 Convener, Winckler Symposium: Fast time variations of auroral particle participation, Minneapolis, April.
- 2002–06 Chapman Conference Chair, American Geophysical Union.
- 2001 Panel on Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Atmosphere.
- Member, National Academy of Sciences, Solar and Space Physics Survey.
- 2001 Editor Symposium on “Alfvénic Structures: From the Sun to the Magnetosphere,” Advances in Space Research.
- 1995–2001 Director of Graduate Studies School of Physics and Astronomy.