Prof. Kevork N. Abazajian is a Professor of Physics & Astronomy and the Director of the Center for Cosmology at the University of California, Irvine. His research focuses on the nature of dark matter at the interface between particle physics and astrophysics, the origin and cosmological impacts of neutrino mass, galaxy formation, high-energy astrophysics, and precision cosmology. He received his Ph.D. in Physics at the University of California, San Diego in 2001. He was a Research Fellow at the Theoretical Astrophysics group at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from 2001-03, where he was also a member of the University of Chicago Center for Cosmological Physics (now the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics). He was awarded a Laboratory Director's Postdoctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory, with the Theoretical Particle Physics and Theoretical Astrophysics groups from 2003-06. After that, Prof. Abazajian joined the faculty in the Department of Physics at the University of Maryland, College Park. There, he was awarded the National Science Foundation CAREER Award for research on cosmological structure formation and neutrino cosmology (2011-15). The CAREER Award is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award, provided to support early-career faculty "who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization." In the fall of 2011, Prof. Abazajian joined the faculty at the Department of Physics & Astronomy at UC Irvine.
Prof. Abazajian has been awarded the distinction of being the Faculty with Greatest Impact on an Outstanding Graduating Senior in 2012 and 2021, as well as the Distinguished Assistant Professor Award for Research from the University of California Academic Senate, Irvine Division, in 2013. Prof. Abazajian became an Associate Professor with tenure in 2013, and full Professor in 2017. He was elected as a founding member of the Armenian Society of Fellows (ASOF) in 2021 and became a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2022.
In 2024, Prof. Abazajian was elected Chair of the Publications and Speakers Committee of the CMB-S4 Collaboration, where he serves also on the Executive Team of the Collaboration.
His particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology papers are available through INSPIRE.
Prof. Abazajian is active in supporting higher education and scientific research activity for Armenians, particularly in their native, indigenous homeland. Through ASOF, he leads a working group supporting the Armenian Astronomical Society, and supports the ASOF Higher Education Relief for Artsakhtsis working group. He also serves as Chair of the Orange County Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee, the Secretary-Recorder for the Orange County Chapter of the Knights of Vartan, and on the board of the Armenian National Committee of America, Orange County.
Prof. Abazajian was a founding Steering Committee member and mentor for the Cal-Bridge Program in 2013. He has served as its Physics & Astronomy Co-Director, and continues to serve on its Strategic Planning Committee and as a mentor. His support for Cal-Bridge was instrumental in securing its initial support of $5m in State of California funding in 2022.
Prof. Abazajian is also involved in driving towards strong action on the climate crisis. As part of this aim, he serves as Chair of the City of Irvine Sustainability Commission. He formerly served on the City of Irvine Green Ribbon Environmental Committee, and the Transportation Commission. See the 2022 World Scientists' Warning of a Climate Emergency.
The image above is a combination of the soft X-ray sky from eROSITA (left), the gamma-ray sky from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (center), and the anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background from the Planck Observatory (right).
Mail Address:
University of California, Irvine
Department of Physics and Astronomy
4129 Frederick Reines Hall
Irvine, CA 92697
E-mail: kevork@uci.edu