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Bruce Alberts
Dan
Burkhardt
France A. Córdova
William
H. Danforth
Brady J.
Deaton
Hugh Grant
Richard
Herman
David W.
Kemper
Alex F.
McCalla
John
F. McDonnell
Philip
Needleman
Peter H.
Raven
Alfonso
Romo Garza
P. Roy
Vagelos
Robert L.
Virgil
Mark S.
Wrighton
Usha
Barwale Zehr
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Board of Trustees
France A. Córdova
President
Purdue University
France A. Córdova became the
eleventh president of Purdue
University on July 16, 2007.
Prior to joining Purdue, Córdova
served as Chancellor at UC
Riverside from 2002-2007. An
internationally recognized
astrophysicist, Córdova has also
served as professor of Physics
and Vice-Chancellor for Research
at UC Santa Barbara. Before
joining UC Santa Barbara in
1996, she was Chief Scientist at
NASA from 1993 to 1996, serving
as the primary scientific
advisor to the NASA
administrator and the principal
interface between NASA
headquarters and the broader
scientific community.
Córdova headed the Department of
Astronomy and Astrophysics at
Pennsylvania State University
from 1989 to 1993. She was a
member of the staff of the Space
Astronomy and Astrophysics Group
at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory from 1979 to 1989,
where she also served as Deputy
Group Leader.
Córdova's scientific career
contributions have been in the
areas of observational and
experimental astrophysics,
multi-spectral research on x-ray
and gamma ray sources, and
space-borne instrumentation. She
has published more than 150
scientific papers, and has a
current experiment flying on the
European Space Agency's X-Ray
Multi-Mirror Mission, she is the
winner of NASA's highest honor,
the Distinguished Service Medal,
and was recognized as a 2000
Kilby Laureate, for
"contributions to society
through science, technology,
innovation, invention, and
education." She is a fellow of
the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS)
and the Association for Women In
Science (AWIS). In September
2007, she was named to the board
of directors of BioCrossroads,
Indiana's initiative to grow the
life sciences through a
public-private collaboration
that supports the region's
research and corporate strengths
while encouraging new business
development.
The oldest of twelve children,
Córdova attended high school in
La Puente, California, east of
Los Angeles. She then entered
Stanford University, where she
graduated cum laude with a
bachelor's degree in English,
and, among other activities,
conducted anthropological field
work in a Zapotec Indian pueblo
in Oaxaca, Mexico. She earned a
PhD in Physics from the
California Institute of
Technology in 1979. In 1997, she
was awarded an honorary
doctorate by Loyola Marymount
University, Los Angeles. Córdova
holds the title of Distinguished
Professor of Physics and
Astronomy at UC Riverside.
Córdova is married to Christian
J. Foster, a science educator,
and has two children in college.
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