Live What You Love
Belinda Wilkes (BSc 1978) began her lifelong passion for astrophysics at the University of St Andrews and ultimately became Director of the Chandra X-Ray Centre, operated for NASA by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. She describes her inspirational career path here.
A lifelong passion for astrophysics
From as far back as I can remember, I have always loved maths. This evolved into a love of physics when I was in high school and learned to apply maths to understand how things worked.
Reading my father’s copy of Fred Hoyle’s The Nature of the Universe fascinated me even more. How could the human race – living on a tiny planet that orbits an average star, which is located in the outer region of an average spiral galaxy – not only dream about but actually explore our unimaginably huge Universe? It blew my mind.
Physics takes on a whole new meaning away from the confines of earth, with its small range of physical conditions that support human life. Astrophysics allows us to apply and so expand our knowledge of physics far outside the small range of density, temperature, mass and size on earth into realms we cannot imagine. Once I realised this, my lifelong passion for astrophysics was born!
Astrophysics at St Andrews
Initially this meant a desire to study astrophysics at university, although in the early 1970s few UK universities offered to teach it to undergraduates. St Andrews did, and a visit there organised by my father quickly confirmed it as my first choice. Who could not fall in love with the beautiful, ancient town, its beaches and golf courses (not that I play golf!), the pier and blended town and gown?
I lived in Hamilton Hall (then all girls) overlooking the Old Course and the West Sands. During Freshers’ week I met several (male) astronomy students. Unlike me, all of them had already built their own telescopes and knew all the constellations. At first, I wondered if I’d picked the wrong subject. But once I started my lectures, I soon realised that my interest in the Physics aspect – such as how stars work and evolve – was better suited to the curriculum. For two years I studied Applied Maths, Physics and Astronomy, then dropped Maths for Joint Honours Physics and Astronomy.
I thoroughly enjoyed St Andrews. During my time here I moved from Hamilton to Gatty to Crail’s Lane; sang and toured with the Renaissance Group; played squash; went on pier walks and beach walks; ate fresh-baked bridies from the bakery at 2am with my friends – and much more. I not only gained an excellent education, but also made life-long friendships. I “found myself” at St. Andrews.
Postgraduate years
After graduation, I decided to continue with astronomy and applied for PhD programmes throughout the UK. I was thrilled to earn a place at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA), Cambridge. I joined Jesus College – one of the first five postgraduate female students to do so – and immersed myself in visible light observations of distant active galaxies (with central supermassive black holes, pulling in material and generating bright light across the electromagnetic spectrum). To observe them required a large telescope, and I made three trips to the Anglo-Australian Telescope in Australia. What a great adventure!
I continued my hobbies: I sang in multiple choirs (including Queen’s College chapel choir) and rowed for Darwin College (because Jesus College alumni would apparently have “turned in their graves” to see women in their boats!). I challenged onto the Jesus squash ladder and played on the men’s inter-college squash teams, surprising many opponents with my gender and the quality of my game. I also played on the University Ladies (blues) team for two and a half years. Although I sometimes worried about falling behind the (very nice!) IoA nerds who spent all hours at their work, these hobbies helped me return to my work more motivated and energised.
My next step was to apply for postdoctoral fellowships outside the UK. Being hopeless at languages, I applied in Australia and the USA. I was offered and accepted a NATO-SERC two-year, postdoctoral fellowship to carry out my own research at Steward Observatory, Tucson, Arizona. This was luxury! I had access to two large telescopes within two hours’ drive, and I observed every month. Plus, the sun always shone. I expanded my research and met and collaborated with colleagues at Steward and Kitt Peak National Observatory.
The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory
Two years in the USA was not enough. Once again, I applied for positions and was offered a job in High Energy Astrophysics (X-ray) at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), Cambridge, Massachusetts. Active galaxies are strong X-ray emitters, so I transitioned to X-ray observations and combined them with data from other frequencies beyond the visible light on which I had trained.
I was at SAO for 38 years, moving from one NASA contract to another as new X-ray observatories came online. In 1995 I moved to the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC) (which still operates and provides science support for the Observatory) as Deputy Leader for User Support. By this time, I had married and had two young children who accompanied us in July 1999 to Chandra’s launch, carried by the shuttle Columbia – an amazing experience! My husband also worked on Chandra, and the years before and immediately after launch were hectic for us all.
Becoming Director
During this time, I realised that CXC user support was not optimal, so I proposed and developed a reorganisation. As a result, I became a lead in the newly created Director’s Office. I worked closely with the Director, learned a great deal, and became his de facto deputy. I loved interacting with NASA, our observers and our staff, improving our processes to help others (and myself) to do their science, and representing our unique Great Observatory and its science to NASA, the community and the public. In 2013, when the Director announced his retirement, I realised I would rather take over myself than train someone new to run the CXC. I applied to the international search, accepted their offer and served as Director from April 2014 to September 2020.
While I had never aspired to it, I really loved being Director. Every leader has their own style, and each should find their own. Primarily a Director sets the culture, which in our case was already collaborative and supportive. Secondly, I enabled the staff in their work: operating Chandra, supporting our community and maximising the Observatory’s science output. Thirdly, I cared about the people, kept an open door (pre Covid-19), aimed to be a sympathetic listener and used my position to help wherever possible. I also love the science, which apparently shines through in my talks – no matter what the audience. I moved “back home” to the UK in 2020 and am continuing my career, now with more time for my own research.
Live what you love
We do not know where our lives will take us. I could never have imagined living in the USA for 38 years or becoming the Director of a major observatory. We chart our paths by looking for opportunities, making choices amongst those available, and getting up each morning to take our next step. Most important is living what you love. Life is too short to accept anything less!
More information
Click on the links below for more information about Belinda Wilkes’ career and achievements:
Professional website
https://sites.google.com/a/cfa.harvard.edu/belinda-wilkes
Recent Chandra books
Public: Light from the Void
Professional: The Chandra X-ray Observatory
NASA’S Chandra X-ray Observatory website