Placement of UCLA Astronomy PHD Graduates 2003-2013

We have examined the career outcomes of those who graduated from the Astronomy PHD program in the timeframe 2003-2013. There were 55 degrees conferred in this period. In this case we include students also admitted through the Physics program who had a principal advisor in the Astronomy Program.

10 are employed in traditional tenure track positions at research universities. Five of these are at PhD granting institutions and five at institutions that confer Masters degrees.

8 are employed at colleges whose principal focus is undergraduate teaching.

15 are employed as permanent scientific staff at institutions such as JPL, GSFC and STSCI.

6 are employed in the Aerospace industry.

8 are employed in data science at places such as Disney, Google, Adobe.

2 are employed in science journalism and outreach

1 is a patent agent.

3 were on their second postdoc as of 2017

2 left technical fields altogether, although it was for family reasons in both cases.

In summary, the data suggest that 45% of our graduates realise the aim of achieving a permanent scientific position in Astronomy, and 60% achieve the goal of an academic position in either teaching or research. Here is a partial list of UCLA PhD graduates holding academic positions at research universities (including those outside the above timeframe).

Jeffrey Chilcote (2014) advisor: Larkin
Elisabeth Mills (2013) advisor: Morris
Ian Crossfield (2012) advisor: Hansen
Quinn Konopacky (2009) advisor: Ghez
Emily Rice (2009) advisor: McLean
Jessica Lu (2008) advisor: Ghez
Shelley Wright (2008) advisor: Larkin
Peter Plavchan (2006) advisor: Jura
Dawn Williams (2004) advisor: Saltzberg
Jay Farihi (2004) advisor: Becklin
Angelle Tanner (2004) advisor: Ghez
David Meier (2002) advisor: Turner
Sungsoo Kim (2000) advisor: Morris
Cornelia Lang (2000) advisor: Morris
Jennifer Patience (1999) advisor: Ghez
Russell White (1999) advisor: Ghez
Donald Figer (1995) advisor: McLean
Bruce Macintosh (1992) advisor: Becklin


Here is also an incomplete list of program alumni who hold permanent technical jobs in astronomy, as examples of this kind of career path.

Siyi Xu (2014) advisor: Jura
David Rodriguez (2011) advisor: Zuckerman
Chun Ly (2010) advisor: Malkan
Alaina Henry (2009) advisor: Malkan
Erin Smith (2008) advisor: McLean
Michael Mcelwain (2007) advisor: Larkin
Amy Mainzer (2003) advisor: McLean
Christine Chen (2002) advisor: Jura
Patrick Lowrance (2001) advisor: Becklin
Ranga Ram Chary (1999) advisor: Wright