Duncan Ross Lorimer

Education Lorimer was educated at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College and University of Wales College at Cardiff where he studied Astrophysics.

Career and research Lorimer held appointments at University of Manchester (Lecturer, 1994–1995); the Max-Planck-Institute for Radio Astronomy (postdoctoral fellow, 1995–1998); Cornell University (postdoctoral Fellow, 1998–2001); University of Manchester (Royal Society University Research Fellow, 2001–2006) and West Virginia University (Faculty, 2006–present).

The first fast radio burst was discovered in 2007 when Lorimer assigned his student David Narkevic at West Virginia University to look through archival data taken in 2001 by the Parkes radio dish in Australia. Analysis of the survey data found a 30-jansky dispersed burst which occurred on July 24, 2001, less than 5 milliseconds in duration, located 3° from the Small Magellanic Cloud. The burst became known as the Lorimer Burst or FRB 010724.

Awards and honours In 2023, he was awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2024.

Personal life Lorimer's wife Maura McLaughlin is also a professor at West Virginia University. They have three children.