Dale Gary, PhD, joined the faculty of New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1997, where he is now distinguished professor and chair in the department of physics and director of the Owens Valley Radio Observatory near Big Pine, California. He was principal investigator for a design study for a new radio telescope array called the Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope, and has been named project scientist for the construction phase of the project.

Gary has been a leader in the use of solar radio data for examining the conditions under which solar radio bursts from distinct solar events can disturb or disrupt entirely cellular telephone signals emanating from cell tower sites. He was involved in the recent discovery that such bursts also cause failures in Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers. His research is essential to understanding and mitigating the conditions under which such deleterious effects of solar events can occur.

In 2010 Gary received NJIT's Excellence in Research Award for the College of Science and Liberal Arts, which is presented in recognition of a sustained record of contributions that have enhanced the reputation of NJIT.

Gary is the author of more than 100 articles in scholarly journals. He was previously at Caltech for 15 years as a research associate in astrophysics.

He received his BS in physics from the University of Michigan and his PhD in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado.   

Last update: September 15, 2010