Scroll To Top
News

Who is Jane Rigby, the lesbian scientist who just received a Medal of Freedom?

NASA James Webb Space Telescope Operations Project Scientist Jane Rigby
Bill Ingalls/NASA

The chief scientist at the world’s most powerful telescope is also an out lesbian and mom of one.

Out astrophysicist Jane Rigby, chief scientist at the world’s most powerful telescope, has received a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The acclaimed scientist, who is an out lesbian, was one of 19 people to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor Friday. The medal is “presented to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,” according to the White House.

Rigby is a civil servant astrophysicist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center as well as the senior project scientist at the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in the world. She has also done extensive data research for the Keck and Magellan Observatories and the Hubble Space Telescope.

Rigby has received numerous accolades throughout her career, including being named the LGBTQ+ Scientist of the Year in 2022 by Out to Innovate, which recognizes outstanding LGBTQ+ professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math. She was also a founding member of the American Astronomical Society's LGBTQ+ Equality Working Group, the Committee for Sexual-Orientation & Gender Minorities in Astronomy.

Rigby has a bachelor's degree in physics, astronomy, and astrophysics from Penn State, and earned both her master's and doctorate in astronomy at the University of Arizona. She said in an SGMA interview that she first came out as a lesbian in 2000, and it was still illegal to be gay in Arizona when she moved there a few years later for graduate school. Rigby now resides in Maryland with her wife, Dr. Andrea Leistra, and their young child.

Rigby said in her SGMA interview that while "it has been much harder to be a queer person in science than a woman in science," her "experience is that absolutely I am a better astronomer because I’m queer," as it broadens her perspective particularly when it comes to community impact research.

For LGBTQ+ people pursuing astronomy or STEM broadly, Rigby's advice was: "Do fabulous science, be fabulous, and be proud."

30 Years of Out100Out / Advocate Magazine - Jonathan Groff & Wayne Brady

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Ryan Adamczeski

Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.