Donald E. Brownlee is Professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington, from which he received his doctorate in Astronomy.
Dr. Brownlee's research interests include investigations of interplanetary dust, comets, meteorites, and the origins of the solar system.
Dr. Brownlee has received numerous awards and honors, including the J. Lawrence Smith medal from the National Academy of Sciences, the Leonard medal from the Meteoritical Society, and the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement.
With Peter D. Ward, he co-authored the acclaimed and bestselling Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Rare in the Universe.
Asteroid 3259 Brownlee was named for him in 1991, and, in 2008, the International Mineralogical Association named a new mineral found in comets - brownleeite - in honor of Dr. Brownlee.
Dr. Brownlee was elected a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society, the Meteoritical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
He is the Associate Editor of Meteoritics and Planetary Society and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Microbeam Analysis Journal.
Dr. Brownlee is currently a principal investigator for NASA's STARDUST Discovery mission, which will collect comet samples and return them to Earth.
The University of Texas at Austin