Simon Patrick Swordy (March 31, 1954 ^[1] – July 19, 2010) was an English-born American astrophysicist.

Biography

Swordy was born in Birmingham in 1954. ^{[2] [3]} Both his parents were teachers. His siblings included three brothers and one sister. Swordy was educated at St Philip's School and Barstable School. ^[2] He studied under Peter Fowler at the University of Bristol, and graduated in 1978.

Swordy moved to the United States in 1979 and accepted a research associate position at the Enrico Fermi Institute. In 1986, he began teaching at the University of Chicago. Swordy became a full professor in 1997. Between 2000 and 2003, Swordy was Master of the Physical Sciences Collegiate Division and associate dean of the physical sciences. ^[3] In 2001, he was elected a fellow of the American Physical Society, "[f]or innovative measurements with detectors on the ground, on balloons, and in space that significantly advanced the understanding of the sources and galactic propagation of cosmic rays at high energies." ^[4] In 2007, he returned to the Enrico Fermi Institute as director. ^[3]

At the time of his death, Swordy was the James Franck Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago. ^[3] He died of lymphoma at the University of Chicago Medical Center on 19 July 2010, aged 56. ^{[3] [5]}

Personal life

Swordy married Josephine Ryan in 1984, with whom he raised three children. ^{[2] [6]}

References