Pakistani-American scientist Nergis Mavalvala, professor of astrophysics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who was a lead scientist in the team that discovered gravitational waves, has been recognized with the Great Immigrants award.
“Our annual tribute to Great Immigrants demonstrates the richness of talent, skills, and achievements that immigrants from around the world bring to every sphere of American society,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, which awards outstanding immigrants each year.
“This campaign reminds us of the debt the United States owes to generations of immigrants who become citizens and contribute to the progress of this country. Today, we celebrate and thank them.”
The recognition of the honorees includes a full-page public service announcement in The New York Times on the Fourth of July and an online public awareness initiative, including quotes and video interviews with naturalized citizens such as chef and past honoree José Andrés, data on the legal benefits of naturalization, a citizenship quiz, and free resources for prospective applicants.
Nergis Mavalcala was a member of the team of scientists and engineers that discovered gravitational waves in the fabric of space and time, confirming Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity, and heralding new era of uncovering mysteries of cosmos.
She was born in Karachi and started studying gravitational waves during her graduation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The Pakistani-American professor is one of the leading scientists to have persistently pursued the project in the United States.
Views and News reported last year that the epoch-making discovery of gravitational waves – already hailed as discovery of the century – meant the scientists had detected gravitational waves reaching earth. A study of the waves will reveal about their “dramatic” origins and about the nature of gravity that cannot otherwise be obtained.
“Physicists have concluded that the detected gravitational waves were produced during the final fraction of a second of the merger of two black holes to produce a single, more massive spinning black hole. This collision of two black holes had been predicted but never observed,” a statement by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) said.
According to LIGO, the gravitational waves were detected on September 14, 2015 at 5:51 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (09:51 UTC) by both of the twin LIGO detectors, located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington, USA.
