Since 1996, Dr. Gretarsson has been part of the multi-institution team effort to detect gravitational waves which led to the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to three leaders and founders of LIGO: Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne, and Barry Barish. Dr. Gretarsson built and operates the LIGO Optics Research Laboratory, and with Mr. Ramon Fobes he built and operated the Embry-Riddle Radio Observatory. With his students, Dr. Gretarsson investigates the properties of extremely high-performance mirrors for use in gravitational wave detectors and other ultra-high-sensitivity instruments. Dr. Gretarsson and his students publish regularly. He is an author on >200 peer-reviewed articles.
Ph.D. - Doctor of Philosophy in Physics, Syracuse University
M.S. - Master of Science in Physics, Syracuse University