Eun-Suk Seo

Eun-Suk Seo is an American astrophysicist known for her observational research on cosmic rays. She is a professor of physics at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she is also affiliated with the Institute for Physical Science and Technology and heads the Cosmic Ray Physics Group.

Education and career Seo earned her doctorate in 1991 at Louisiana State University, under the joint supervision of William Vernon Jones and John Wefel. She joined the University of Maryland faculty in 1991.

Research Seo has been a been principal investigator on international astrophysical collaborations including the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass Experiment (CREAM) (both in its initial balloon-launched configuration and in its second-generation ISS-CREAM experiment sent aboard the International Space Station in 2017 ), and co-investigator on others such as the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, and Balloon-borne Experiment with Superconducting Spectrometer.

In 2019, NASA attempted to replace Seo as principal investigator on ISS-CREAM, and after a majority of the project's scientists supported Seo by rejecting NASA's chosen successor as principal investigator, they discontinued the experiment.

Service and Recognition In 2010, Seo was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), after a nomination from the APS Division of Astrophysics, "for leading the development and utilization of particle detectors for balloon and space-based experiments to understand cosmic ray origin, acceleration and propagation, especially as Principal Investigator of the Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass balloon-borne experiment over Antarctica". Furthermore, she has been president of the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association, Korean-American Women in Science and Engineering, and Association of Korean Physicists in America. She is the founding president of the Korean-American AeroSpace Science and Technology Association (KASSTA), and a prior U.S. representative for the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.