U of A alum receives Medal of Freedom for work on Webb telescope

A University of Arizona alum who played a major part in the success of the James Webb Space Telescope has received the nation’s highest civilian honor.

NASA astrophysicist Jane Rigby was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in a ceremony at the White House on Friday.

Rigby is the senior project scientist for Webb at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and she worked on the development of the space telescope for years, including during her time in Tucson.

According to her NASA bio, she was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow at the U of A from 2000 to 2003, the year she earned her master’s degree in astronomy from the university.

Rigby stayed on to complete her doctorate, also in astronomy, in 2006.

UA Regents’ Professor George Rieke, who designed one of the Webb telescope’s main infrared cameras, served as Rigby’s Ph.D. advisor.

“It is wonderful when a former student does so well and has already had a big impact on the field,” Rieke said in a written statement. “Jane moved into her position with JWST and immediately stole the show with her great competence in handling all the challenges the mission threw at her.”

After Webb was launched in 2021 and sent into orbit around the sun about 1 million miles from Earth, Rigby helped lead the effort to commission it and get it ready for its first scientific observations.

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Since then, she has used the world’s largest and most powerful space telescope to continue her research on the properties of galaxies in the early universe, work she began as a doctoral student at Steward Observatory.

President Joe Biden presented her with the Medal of Freedom for her role with Webb and her longtime support of diversity and inclusion in science. (It also probably didn’t hurt her cause that she grew up in Delaware, just like Biden did.)

“For me, the Presidential Medal of Freedom represents what’s best about America: our aspirations and what we want to be as a nation,” said Rigby in a video message released by the White House. “Looking at previous award winners — Sally Ride, Harvey Milk, Bayard Rustin — I wouldn’t be here if not for them.”

In 2022, Rigby was named LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year by Out to Innovate, a professional society of LGBTQ+ students and professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

That same year, she also landed on the journal Nature’s list of 10 people who shaped science and the BBC’s list of 100 inspiring and influential women from around the world.

Rigby was one of 19 people to receive the Medal of Freedom on Friday. Other recipients included civil rights activist Medgar Evers, former Vice President Al Gore, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Native American Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe and Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.

This wasn’t Rigby’s first trip to the White House. On July 11, 2022, she joined President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris there for a press conference to unveil the first images produced by Webb.

“I work on a telescope that does the impossible. We look into space. We see hundreds of times further than anyone has seen before,” Rigby said in her video statement from Friday’s award ceremony. “There’s so much out there. The universe is a beautiful and amazing place, and we’re exploring it together.”