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George Miley

Leiden University
Emeritus Professor
Title of talk: LOFAR-EUNAME. A new Model for Combining Science with Capacity Building

George Miley is Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at Leiden University in the Netherlands and has authored several hundred papers on radio galaxies and quasars. He is a graduate of University College, Dublin, Ireland with a PhD from Jodrell Bank, University of Manchester, UK.

Professor Miley initiated LOFAR, a radio telescope centered in the Netherlands, with stations in 10 other European countries and has been closely involved in several space missions, including the NASA-ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

As Vice President of the International Astronomical Union, he was architect of the IAU strategic plan “Astronomy for Development” that resulted in setting up the IAU Office of Astronomy for Development, in Cape Town, a joint venture with the South African NRF. In 2004, Professor Miley initiated Universe Awareness (UNAWE), a global program that uses astronomy to inspire young disadvantaged children aged 4 – 10, that has been active in 60 countries.

Professor Miley was awarded the Shell Oeuvre Prize in 1997 and a Dutch knighthood in 2011. He was elected Honorary Fellow of the UK Royal Astronomical Society in 2013 and awarded an honorary doctorate by Trinity College, University of Dublin in 2017.