Dr. Ryan Maderak

Dr. Ryan Maderak is director of Benedictine College’s astronomy major. He earned a B.S. in Physics & Astronomy from Benedictine College in 2003, and went on to graduate study at Indiana University, where he earned an M.A. in Astronomy in 2006 and a Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2011. After spending an additional year at Indiana University as a postdoctoral research fellow, he spent three years as Assistant Professor of Physics & Mathematics at Mount Marty College (a Benedictine school in South Dakota), before returning to his alma mater in 2015. He has a strong interest and extensive experience in public education and outreach.

Dr. Maderak is an Atchison native. He met his wife Therese (Class of 2002) at Benedictine, and they have five children.

EDUCATION

PH.D Astronomy

Indiana University, 2011

M.A. Astronomy

Indiana University, 2006

B.S. Physics & Astronomy

Benedictine College, 2003

Research

Dr. Maderak’s research focuses on the chemical abundances of open star clusters, with an emphasis on their oxygen abundances, as tracers of the chemical history of the Galaxy.

Publications

Maderak, R.M., Deliyannis, C.P., Cummings, J.D., & King, J.R. 2013, The Astronomical Journal, 146, 143. “WIYN Open Cluster Study: LVII. Oxygen Abundances of Solar-type Dwarfs in the Hyades and NGC 752.”

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-6256/146/6/143/

Maderak, R.M., Deliyannis, C.P., Anthony-Twarog, B.J., Twarog, B.A., Cummings, J.D., King, J.R., & Steiman-Cameron, T.Y. 2015, The Astronomical Journal, 149, 141. “WIYN Open Cluster Study: LXIII. Abundances in the Super-Metal-Rich Open Cluster NGC 6253 from Hydra Spectroscopy of the 7774A Oxygen Triplet Region.”

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-6256/149/4/141/