Matthew J. Holman

Matthew Holman
Born1967
Alma materMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forPlanetary science
AwardsNewcomb Cleveland Prize in 1998
Scientific career
FieldsAstrophysics
InstitutionsCenter for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Matthew J. Holman (born 1967) is a Smithsonian astrophysicist and lecturer at Harvard University. Holman studied at MIT, where he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1989 and his PhD in planetary science in 1994. He was awarded the Newcomb Cleveland Prize in 1998.[1]

From 25 January 2015 to 9 February 2021, he held the position of an interim director of IAU's Minor Planet Center (MPC), after former director Timothy B. Spahr had stepped down. Holman was followed by Matthew Payne as new director of the MPC.[2][3]

He was a Salina Central High School (Kansas) classmate and fellow debate team member of Joe Miller, Alaskan Senate candidate. The main-belt asteroid 3666 Holman was named in his honour in 1999 (M.P.C. 34619).[1][4]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference springer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-About was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPEC-2021-D60 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference MPC-Circulars-Archive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).