ANDREW WEST, PH.D

Andrew West is an astronomer, educator and father, with a passion for helping education be accessible to everyone. Andrew attended Haverford College, where he studied Physics and Astronomy.  He obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Washington in Seattle and completed postdoctoral positions at U.C. Berkeley and M.I.T.  He was an Associate Professor of Astronomy at Boston University (BU) before stepping back to take a primary role in raising his two children (who both attend Birches). While at BU, Andrew taught courses to both undergraduate and graduate students, ran a large research group and designed a Massive Open Online Course, called “Alien Worlds” which was taken by over 12,000 students around the world.

Andrew currently teaches at Tufts University both in the Chemistry Department and as part of the Tufts University Prison Initiative (TUPIT). For his work in the latter, he teaches incarcerated students at medium and maximum security prisons in Massachusetts, who are earning (or have now earned) their Bachelor’s Degrees from Tufts.  Andrew is also an advocate for diversity and inclusion, particularly in education and science.  He has held numerous positions throughout his career, including being the former co-chair of the Astronomy/Astrophysics section of the National Society of Black Physicists.