Professor Derek W. G. Sears

Derek W. G. Sears, Ph.D. was born in England and earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Kent at Canterbury, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy and Geology at the University of Leicester. He is now University Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and W. M. Keck Professor of Space and Planetary Science. He was the founding director of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences.
 
Derek teaches chemistry and performs meteorite research, and is currently involved in creating new research and graduate teaching programs in space and planetary sciences. He is best known for his pioneering studies on the use of thermoluminescence to characterize primitive meteorites and to determine the thermal and radiation history of Antarctic meteorites.
 
He authored The Origin of Chondrules and Chondrites, Thunderstones: A Study of Meteorites Based on Falls and Finds in Arkansas, and Nature and Origin of Meteorites. His papers include Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites XII: The metamorphic history of CV chondrites and their components, Chemical and physical studies of type 3 chondrites. II Thermoluminescence of sixteen type 3 ordinary chondrites and relationships with oxygen isotopes, and The crystalline lunar spherules: Their formation and implications for the origin of meteoritic chondrules.
 
In 1999, he received the University of Arkansas’ highest award for research and service, and asteroid 4473 Sears was named in his honor.
 
Read Derek Sears Awarded 2009 Meteoritical Society Service Award, Instruments To Dig Deep In Space, and Where To Search For Underground Water On Mars. Read his LinkedIn profile.