Paul Ricker
Professor Of Astronomy at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois, United States
Summary
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Senior🎓
Top SchoolPaul Ricker is a computational astrophysicist and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with two decades of research and teaching experience applying large-scale parallel simulations to problems in galaxy and cluster evolution, binary stars, and supernovae. He specializes in designing and optimizing parallel numerical algorithms and simulation code architecture, coupling astrophysics expertise with practical skills in Linux cluster deployment and scientific programming (Fortran, C, Python, IDL). His work spans both domain science and cyberinfrastructure—developing grid-enabled tools and scalable applications that bridge astrophysics and applied mathematics. A seasoned mentor and grant-writer, he has led projects that train undergraduates and graduates while advancing high-performance computing approaches in astronomy. Based in Champaign, IL, he brings a rare blend of theoretical insight and hands-on systems engineering that enables ambitious, computation-heavy investigations of cosmic structure.
10 years of coding experience
20 years of employment as a software developer
Peters Township High SchoolB.S., Physics, Astronomy, Minor in Mathematics, B.S., Physics, Astronomy, Minor in Mathematics at Penn State UniversityMt. Lebanon Senior High SchoolPh.D., Physics, Ph.D., Physics at University of Chicago
Github Skills (7)
validation-framework10
validation9
python8
science4
astrophysics4
supernova4
temperature3
Programming languages (3)
Github contributions (5)
astrogas/.github
Jun 2026 - Jun 2026
Contributions:4 pushes, 1 branch in 2 days
LSSTDESC/descqa
Oct 2015 - Sep 2016
A validation framework and tests for mock galaxy catalogs and beyond
Contributions:18 commits in 10 months
validation-frameworknerscdescqavalidationpython
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