Jane Luu

Jane X. Luu, born in July nineteen sixty-three, is a distinguished Vietnamese-American astronomer and defense systems engineer. Her groundbreaking work in discovering and characterizing the Kuiper Belt, alongside her colleagues David C. Jewitt and Michael Brown, earned her the prestigious Kavli Prize in two thousand twelve. This accolade recognized their significant contributions to understanding the history of our planetary system.

In nineteen seventy-five, during the tumultuous fall of Saigon, Luu and her family immigrated to the United States as refugees. Their journey was fraught with challenges, as they lived in various refugee camps and motels before finally settling in Kentucky, where they had relatives. Despite these hardships, Luu excelled academically, graduating as valedictorian from her high school.

Her academic prowess earned her a scholarship to Stanford University, where she pursued a bachelor's degree in physics, graduating in nineteen eighty-four. Following her graduation, Luu worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA, an experience that ignited her passion for astronomy and set the stage for her future contributions to the field.