Montana State University (MSU) recently announced the recipients of the 2025–2026 Founders Day Faculty Awards. Professor Jiong Qiu, a distinguished alumna of our department (Class of 1998) has been honored with this year’s Charles and Nora L. Wiley Award for Meritorious Research and Creativity for her exceptional contributions to the field of solar physics.
Sponsored jointly by the Wiley family and the MSU Office of Research and Economic Development, this prestigious award recognizes faculty members who have achieved significant research milestones and demonstrated remarkable scholarly vitality.
Professor Qiu is an internationally renowned scholar specializing in the study of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Over the past two decades, she has pioneered a suite of technical methodologies that have elucidated the underlying physical mechanisms behind these eruptive events. Her research has provided groundbreaking perspectives on the process of magnetic reconnection within solar flares, fundamentally advancing our understanding of solar dynamics.
Her scientific achievements have earned widespread acclaim within the global solar physics community. A 2007 recipient of the American Astronomical Society’s (AAS) Karen Harvey Prize, Professor Qiu is a frequent invited speaker at top-tier international conferences. Her work is consistently supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Furthermore, she has been invited to serve on the Committee on Solar and Space Physics of the National Academy of Sciences.
In his nomination letter, Spiro K. Antiochos, a research professor at the University of Michigan, lauded Professor Qiu as one of the preeminent scientists in space physics today and a global leader in the study of solar eruptions. Professor Antiochos specifically noted that her contributions, particularly in utilizing observational analysis to pin down the mechanisms of solar eruptions—have been of inestimable value in driving the field forward.
The conferral of this honor is not only a high-level affirmation of Professor Qiu’s individual scientific accomplishments by the international academic community but also a vivid testament to the caliber and influence of our alumni at the frontiers of astronomy and space science. It further underscores our department’s profound legacy and commitment to nurturing world-class talent.