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

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."