Neil Gehrels

Cornelis A. "Neil" Gehrels was an American astrophysicist specializing in the field of gamma-ray astronomy. He was Chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) from 1995 until his death, and was best known for his work developing the field from early balloon instruments to space observatories such as the NASA Swift mission, for which he was the principal investigator. Gehrels lead the WFIRST wide-field infrared telescope towards a launch in August 2026. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.