ENROLLED
2019 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 104
BY REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS
A RESOLUTION
To commend Professor Gabriela González on her selection as Southeastern Conference
Professor of the Year for 2019.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana House of Representatives was pleased and proud to
receive the news that Professor Gabriela González of the Department of Physics and
Astronomy at Louisiana State University has been selected as Southeastern Conference
Professor of the Year for 2019; and
WHEREAS, Professor González has a long history of bringing pride and honor to
her institution and her adoptive state, particularly as a collaborator and spokesperson for the
Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Scientific Collaboration; on
September 14, 2015, LIGO, for the first time in history, detected gravitational waves, waves
that Albert Einstein predicted but doubted that humans would ever be able to detect because
of their infinitesimal effects; and
WHEREAS, Professor González's research focuses on instrument development and
data calibration and diagnostics for LIGO; instruments and calibration are foundationally
essential to detecting the distortions in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves
because despite the enormous amounts of energy released in the merging of stars and black
holes, LIGO instruments must detect distortions in distance on the order of one trillionth of
the wavelength of the light being used to make the measurements; in other words, detection
of the largest events in the universe requires devices capable of making the smallest
measurements ever made; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, within days of powering up for some preliminary data
collection, the LIGO sensors detected the gravitational waves resulting from a collision of
black holes 1.3 billion years ago, so not only were the devices developed by Professor
González and her collaborators capable of detecting the presence of gravitational waves,
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they could describe the scale of the event that produced the waves and when in "history" the
event occurred; and
WHEREAS, Gabriela González was born in Córdoba, Argentina; she completed her
Ph.D. at Syracuse University in 1995 and began her career working with LIGO at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; her tenure at LSU began in 2001, and she was
promoted to Professor in 2008; and
WHEREAS, recognition as Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year is indeed
a prestigious honor and places Professor Gabriela González amongst the elite of academia,
but this award will not be alone in her trophy case; a few of the previous recognitions she
has received, on her own or with team-LIGO, are: election to the National Academy of
Sciences, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellow of the International
Society of General Relativity and Gravitation, the Einstein Medal, the Bruno Rossi Prize
from the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the American Astronomical Society,
Honoris Causa Ph.D. from National University of Córdoba, Argentina, and LSU Rainmaker;
and
WHEREAS, Professor González's passion and dedication have been evident
throughout her storied career, and it is truly fitting that the leaders of the Southeastern
Conference academic community have selected her for this recognition.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Professor Gabriela González on her
selection as Southeastern Conference Professor of the Year for 2019; does hereby express
its sincerest gratitude to her for helping us to better understand the fundamental truths of our
physical universe; and does hereby express its hope that she will continue to contribute to
basic research on gravitational waves and to inspire generations of students to achieve great
things.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Professor Gabriela González.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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