John

MulchaeyHe/His

Distant Galaxies

John Mulchaey was named Carnegie Science's 12th President in November 2024—the culmination of 30 years of scientific excellence and leadership. Immediately prior to his presidency, Mulchaey served as the institution's Deputy for Science for four years, which ran concurrently with his decade as the Director and Crawford H. Greenewalt Chair of the Carnegie Science Observatories, the organization’s division for astronomy and astrophysics research. As President, Mulchaey oversees the research and business functions across Carnegie Science three scientific Divisions, composed of research sites on the East and West Coasts and telescope facilities in Chile.

Working with the institution’s executive leadership team, scientific directors, and the Board of Trustees, Mulchaey is responsible for maintaining an environment where scientists can flourish. He also plays a critical role in building and expanding Carnegie Science’s partnerships with Caltech, University of Southern California, The Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, and in deepening our relationship with city officials and the local community, as well as providing critical support for fundraising and relationship-building.

He also represents Carnegie Science on the Board of the next-generation Giant Magellan Telescope, which is under construction at Carnegie’s facility in Chile. Once completed, the telescope will enable groundbreaking science on the nature of dark matter, the first generation of stars and galaxies, and the search for life on distant planets.

Mulchaey is a respected astronomer, well-regarded for his work on groups and clusters of galaxies—most of which, including our own Milky Way, exist collectively. These systems can be important laboratories for studying the processes that shape galaxies throughout their lifetimes, from their formation through their evolution. Early in his career, Mulchaey led the research group that revolutionized our understanding of galaxy groups by revealing the existence of large amounts of dark matter in their compositions. More recently, he was part of the teams that discovered the first known binary quasar system and that first watched a fast radio burst in real time.

He joined Carnegie as a postdoctoral fellow, after a graduate student fellowship at the Space Telescope Science Institute. At the conclusion of his fellowship, he received a Staff Scientist appointment. Dr. Mulchaey was named Director in 2015 after five years as Associate Director for Academic Affairs. He earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Maryland and a bachelor’s degree in the same from Berkeley. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on Astronomy and Public Policy and the Weber Prize Selection Committee.

In 2020, Mulchaey received the Rotary Club’s Helios Humanitarian Star Award in acknowledgment of his longstanding efforts at promoting outreach events and activities to share astronomy with enthusiasts of all ages throughout the Los Angeles area.

He created the popular Observatories Astronomy Lecture Series at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, and gives upwards of 50 talks each year to groups around Southern California and across the country. He also launched a program for gifted high school students from Southern California to gain exposure to what it’s actually like to be a scientist.

Mulchaey has appeared frequently in the media, including NBC’s The Today Show, CNN, Fox News Channel, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Astronomy Magazine, and Discover Magazine among others.