Mihály Horányi, a distinguished space physicist at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been named the 2025 College Professor of Distinction. The College of Arts and Sciences bestowed the prestigious annual award in recognition of his significant contributions to research, teaching, and service within the university community.
The honor is reserved for faculty members who have achieved national and international acclaim in their fields while also being recognized by their peers for their exceptional talent as educators and colleagues. Horányi has been a central figure at the university for over three decades, shaping our understanding of cosmic dust and its role in the solar system.
Key Takeaways
- Physicist Mihály Horányi was named the 2025 College Professor of Distinction by the CU Boulder College of Arts and Sciences.
- The award recognizes his exceptional research in space plasma, teaching, and service to the university.
- Horányi is the principal investigator for dust-detecting instruments on major space missions, including New Horizons and the recent IMAP launch.
- His career spans over 30 years at CU Boulder, with more than 300 published academic papers and an asteroid named in his honor.
A Career of Distinction
Upon receiving the news, Horányi expressed his gratitude and surprise at the recognition from his colleagues. He credited the collaborative environment at the university for his success over the past 30 years.
"I’m truly surprised and honored by this recognition from my peers," Horányi stated. "LASP and the Physics Department at CU Boulder are extraordinary communities of talented and passionate people who continually push the boundaries of scientific discovery and space exploration."
He added, "I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many inspiring colleagues over the past 30 years.” The award highlights a career dedicated not just to scientific inquiry but also to fostering the next generation of physicists and space scientists.
What is a Professor of Distinction?
The College Professor of Distinction award is an annual honor at the University of Colorado Boulder. It is given to current faculty who are not only scholars of international renown but are also viewed by their peers as exceptional teachers and collaborators, contributing significantly to the academic life of the college.
From Budapest to the Outer Solar System
Horányi’s journey in space physics began in his native Hungary, where he earned a Master of Science in nuclear physics and a Ph.D. in space physics from Lorand Eotvos University in Budapest. His passion for space exploration was ignited during his graduate studies while working on the Vega mission to Comet Halley.
He recalled the excitement of that era, with multiple international missions from Russia, Europe, and Japan converging on the comet. This experience was formative, shaping his approach to scientific instrumentation.
"For me, figuring out the most important science questions to ask, which measurements to make, and what is the right balance between capability, reliability, mass, power needs, schedule, and cost remains challenging and exciting ever since,” he noted in a past interview.
This foundational experience led him to the United States, where he joined CU Boulder’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in 1992. He later became a faculty member in the Department of Physics in 1999, solidifying his long-term role at the institution.
Pioneering the Study of Cosmic Dust
Professor Horányi's research focuses on a specialized area known as complex or "dusty" plasmas. He investigates the behavior of tiny dust particles in space and their interactions with electromagnetic forces, which play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of planetary rings, comets, and other celestial bodies.
His work has been instrumental in designing and building instruments that can detect and analyze these particles millions of miles from Earth. He has served as a principal investigator for several key instruments developed at LASP, leading teams that have sent hardware across the solar system.
Major Missions Led by Horányi
- Student Dust Counter (SDC): Flew aboard the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond, providing the first direct measurements of the dust environment in the outer solar system.
- Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX): Orbited the Moon on the LADEE mission, studying the thin dust cloud surrounding the lunar surface.
- Cosmic Dust Experiment (CDE): Part of the AIM satellite mission to study noctilucent clouds high in Earth's atmosphere.
- Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX): His latest project, which is a key instrument on the recently launched Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission.
In addition to leading these projects, Horányi was also a co-investigator for dust instruments on some of NASA’s most iconic missions, including the Ulysses probe that studied the sun, the Galileo mission to Jupiter, and the Cassini mission to Saturn.
A Legacy Written in the Stars
Horányi's influence extends far beyond the instruments he has helped create. He is the author or co-author of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, contributing a vast body of knowledge to the field of space physics. His work has been recognized by his peers through fellowships in both the American Physical Society and the American Geophysical Union, two of the most respected scientific organizations in the country.
Perhaps the most unique tribute to his work orbits between Mars and Jupiter. In recognition of his contributions to planetary science, the International Astronomical Union officially renamed Asteroid 1998 AX9 in his honor.
Today, that small world is known as 164701 Horányi, a permanent testament to a career spent unraveling the small-scale mysteries that govern our solar system.