Astronomer Yervant Terzian, the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and former chair of the astronomy department, received a Gold Medal from the Armenian government's Ministry of Science and Education in Yerevan, Armenia, Sept. 17.

The award is the Republic of Armenia's highest honor for scientific achievement.

Terzian, a radio astronomer whose research focuses on binary galaxies, stellar evolution and the physics of the interstellar medium, joined the Cornell faculty in 1967 and served as chair of the astronomy department from 1979 to 1999. He is known for his studies of exploding stars and the discovery of regions of hydrogen gas between distant galaxies, a finding that indicated the presence of unseen matter in intergalactic space.

Terzian is also actively involved in teaching and outreach. In 1986 he received Cornell's Clark Award for Distinguished Teaching; he also founded the New York State Pew Cluster of Colleges and Universities, which works to improve undergraduate science education; and he is director of NASA's New York Space Grant Consortium, which offers educational opportunities and research experience for undergraduate and graduate students.

Born in Alexandria, Egypt, to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, Terzian is a foreign member of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and chair of the Armenian National Science and Education Fund, which promotes scientific research and scholarship in Armenia. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and a member of the International Astronomical Union, the International Union of Radio Science and the American Astronomical Society, among other organizations. He chaired the U.S. Consortium for the Square Kilometre Array (2002-08), a proposed international radio telescope that could probe the universe with unprecedented sensitivity, and currently is a board member of the its International Committee.