Dr. Freeman was a participant in Closer to Truth: 

Show 105, "How Did This Universe Begin?"
Show 213, "Will This Universe Ever End?"

Dr. Wendy L. Freedman is a faculty member and astronomer at the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, California. A native of Toronto, Canada, she received a Ph.D. in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Toronto in 1984. She received a Carnegie Fellowship at the Observatories in 1984, and in 1987 became the first woman to join Carnegie's permanent scientific staff, where she remains to this day. Dr. Freedman received the 1994 Marc Aaronson Lectureship and prize in recognition of a decade of fundamental contributions to the areas of the extra galactic distance scale and the stellar populations of galaxies. In 2000, Dr. Freedman received the John P. McGovern Award, and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

One of her principle research interests is aimed at measuring an accurate value for the rate at which the universe is expanding. Many fundamental problems in astronomy require a knowledge of the expansion rate, or Hubble constant. The Hubble constant is needed to set constraints on the age of the universe. It is also needed to determine how much hydrogen and helium (the first elements) were formed after the Big Bang, how the evolution of the universe has proceeded, and how the first structures formed, the structures that later became the galaxies that we see today. The Hubble constant has abroad impact on many diverse areas of astrophysics and cosmology; hence, the importance in measuring it accurately.

In the mid-1980's a panel of astronomers reviewing the top priority science for the Hubble Space Telescope designated the determination of the extragalactic distance scale and the expansion rate as one of the `Key' (or highest priority) projects to be undertaken and completed by the telescope. Dr. Freedman is one of three principle investigators of a team of about thirty astronomers from the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia; this team was awarded the largest allocation of time on the Hubble Space telescope for a period of 5 years. The Extragalactic Distance Scale Key Project involves determining accurate distances to nearby galaxies. In turn, these galaxies form the underlying basis for a number of other methods that can be applied at remote distances, thus enabling several independent measurements of the Hubble constant.

Dr. Freedman is currently a member of the Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey Committee of the National Academy of Sciences. She is also a member of the National Research Council's Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, the executive board of the Center for Particle Astrophysics and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's scientific oversight committee planning the Next Generation Space Telescope. Her work is internationally recognized as providing the key observational data accurately defining the age of the universe. Beyond astronomy, her main interest is her family: husband Barry, daughter Rachael and son Daniel.

To read more about Dr. Freedman’s work, please go to:

"The Expansion Rate and Size of the Universe", Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/specialissues/0398cosmos/0398freedman.html

"Hubble Measures the Expanding Universe", NASA News
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast25may99_1.htm

Aaronson Prize and Lectureship, 1994.
Haverford Distinguished Lectureship, 1997.
American Physical Society Centennial Lectureship, 1999.
McGovern Lecture Award: Cosmos Club, 2000.
Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2000.
Helen Sawyer Hogg Award, 2000.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Scholarship, 1983.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Scholarship, 1982.
Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellow, 1981.
Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellow, 1980.
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, 1979.
Robertson Award, University of Toronto 1977

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Astronomical Society
Canadian Astronomical Society
Astronomical Society of the Pacific
American Physical Society
1993-1997: Visiting Committee Member, Harvard Center for Astrophysics
1994-1999: Member of Executive Board for Center for Particle Astrophysics
1994-1995: Member of ``Hubble Space Telescope and Beyond" committee
1995-1998: Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics of the National Academy of Sciences
1997: Chair, Executive Board of the Center for Particle Astrophysics
1996-1998: Member, Scientific Oversight Committee for NASA's Next Generation Space Telescope
1998-2000: Member, Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey panel of the National Academy of Sciences
2000- : Member, National Research Council Board on Physics and Astronomy

The Carnegie Institution was founded in 1902 by Andrew Carnegie as his "institution for discovery." Edwin Hubble, for whom the space telescope is named, was a Carnegie astronomer throughout his career.  The president of the institution is the biologist, Dr. Maxine Singer.