James Wray, 22, a West Windsor native and future astronomer, is one of 15 students selected to receive a full five-year fellowship from the prestigious Fannie and John Hertz Foundation to support his research in planetary science and outer space exploration at Cornell University.##M:[more]##
“I’ve always been excited by the idea that life may exist on other planets,” Wray says. “I will join the scientific search for life on other planets, because answering this most basic question has such profound implications for life on Earth.” Wray will study under the direction of Steve Squyres, professor of astronomy at Cornell and principal investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover project.
Wray, a graduate of High School South, Class of 2002, received a bachelor of arts in astrophysics and engineering physics summa cum laude from Princeton in June. Wray has also received a National Science Foundation Research Fellowship, the Soffen Leadership Award from the NASA Academy, and the Princeton Sigma Xi Book Award for Astrophysical Sciences.
His father, David Wray, is a private practice attorney in West Windsor, and his mother, Patricia Wray, a former Broadway dancer and actress, is currently a drama teacher for Princeton High School. His brother, Jeffrey, is a student at Princeton High School.
Although his academic achievements may be out of this world, his down-to-earth interests have included working on books-on-tape recordings for special needs children with Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, and a fundraising effort to provide clothing and school supplies for children in need.
Wray plans to use data and high-resolution images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to search for evidence of past environmental conditions on Mars that would have been suitable for life. He envisions a career in research that will culminate in a leadership role on a future NASA mission related to astrobiology.
During a recent NASA Academy program at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, Wray designed a concept for a robotic lander for a mission to Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
According to a press release, Wray’s early memories include reading Ranger Rick magazines with awe, particularly an issue dedicated to the “alien world” of the island of Madagascar. An explorer at heart, Wray imagined alien worlds in outer space, and after a star-gazing trip with his father became inspired by the great night sky. “Realizing that I was looking at galaxies 2 million light years away made me want to learn more about what else could be out there,” Wray says.
