Cr̤dova, France A.
Oral history interview with France Cr̤dova, 2020 May 11.
France Cr̤dova, former Director of the National Science Foundation, recounts her childhood in Europe and then Southern California. She discusses her experiences in Catholic school and her decision to study at Stanford as an undergraduate, where she did not focus on science. Cr̤dova explains her initial desire to pursue graduate work in anthropology until a series of events led to her employment at Caltech and ultimately, her dissertation work in astrophysics and data analysis. Cr̤dova discusses her work at Los Alamos and her faculty appointment at Penn State. She describes her tenures as Chancellor at University of California Riverside, NASA administrator, and as President of Purdue, and she explains her main goals and accomplishments in each of these positions. In the latter portion of the interview, Cr̤dova describes her work at Director of the NSF and she provides a detailed overview of science policy and funding during her years serving in the Obama administration.
Astrophysicist and academic leader, France A. Cr̤dova. Received BA from Stanford University and her PhD in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1979. Cr̤dova is president emerita of Purdue University, where she served as president from 2007 to 2012. From 2002 to 2007, she led the University of California, Riverside, as chancellor and was a distinguished professor of physics and astronomy. Cr̤dova was the vice chancellor for research and professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, from 1996 to 2002. From 1993 to 1996, Cr̤dova served as NASA's chief scientist. Prior to joining NASA, she was on the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University where she headed the department of astronomy and astrophysics from 1989 to 1993. Cr̤dova was deputy group leader in the Earth and space sciences division at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1988 to 1989 and staff scientist from 1979 to 1989. From 2014 to 2020 Cr̤dova was director of the National Science Foundation.
Cr̤dova, France A.
California Institute of Technology
Los Alamos National Laboratory
National Science Foundation (U.S.)
Pennsylvania State University
Purdue University
Stanford University
United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration
University of California, Riverside.
Astrophysics
Scientists in government
Interviews.
Oral histories.
Transcripts.
Zierler, David, 1979-, interviewer.
AIP-ICOS
American Institute of Physics. Niels Bohr Library & Archives. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740, USA