Tamás G. Gombosi

Tamas I. Gombosi (born 1947) is a Hungarian space plasma physicist. He is the Konstantin I. Gringauz Distinguished University Professor of Space Science and Rollin M. Gerstacker Professor of Engineering at the University of Michigan.

Early life and education Gombosi was born in 1947 in Budapest, Hungary as the son of Hungarian Holocaust survivors. He completed his graduate degrees in physics from Eötvös Loránd University in 1970 and 1974 before conducting his postdoctoral research at the Russian Space Research Institute. While in Moscow, Gombosi worked on the Vener electron flux data with Konstantin Gringauz and was a member of the scientific staff of the Central Research Institute for Physics. Later, while serving as Chair of the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, Gombosi led the effort for UMich to join the Department of Energy Fusion Science Center in 2004.

By 2014, Gombosi was serving as the Rollin M. Gerstacker Professor of Engineering, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, professor of aerospace engineering, and director of the Center for Space Environment Modeling. The Rollin M. Gerstacker Foundation endowed and funded this professorship.

As such, he was named the Konstantin I. Gringauz Distinguished University Professor of Space Science. Following this promotion, Gombosi was awarded the 2017 International Kristian Birkeland Medal for his "outstanding scientific results in the field of space weather." In 2020, Gombosi was awarded the John Adam Fleming Medal for "original research and technical leadership in geomagnetism, atmospheric electricity, aeronomy, space physics, and/or related sciences." The following year, Gombosi was appointed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Advisory Group (SWAG).

Personal life Gombosi and his wife Eszter, a Senior Programmer Analyst in the UMich Department of Biostatistics, have two children together.