death_date death_place birth_place nationality field work_institutions birth_date prizes image article_title name
22 march 2004 boston , massachusetts , u.s. bodrum , turkey turkish and american astronomy and planetary science american association of variable star observers -lrb- aavso -rrb- 2 january 1943 centennial 1987 george van biesbroeck prize american astronomical society -lrb- 1993 medal -rrb- leslie peltier award astronomical league -lrb- 1993 -rrb- giovanni of battista lacchini award for collaboration with amateur astronomers , unione the astrofili italiani -lrb- 1995 -rrb- jackson-gwilt medal of the royal société astronomical society -lrb- 1995 -rrb- astronomique de france , janetakyuzmattei.jpg janet akyüz mattei
 janet akyüz mattei
janet akyüz mattei

janet akyüz mattei -lrb- january 2 , 1943 -- march 22 , 2004 -rrb- was a turkish-american astronomer who was the director of the american association of variable star observers -lrb- aavso -rrb- from 1973 to 2004 .
mattei was born in bodrum , turkey to a jewish family and educated in the american collegiate institute , İzmir .
she came to the united states for university studies , and attended brandeis university in waltham , ma on the wien scholarship .
later , she was offered a job by dorrit hoffleit at the maria mitchell observatory in nantucket , massachusetts .
she worked at leander mccormick observatory in charlottesville , virginia from 1970 to 1972 and received her m.a. in astronomy from the university of virginia in 1972 and her ph.d. in astronomy from ege university in izmir , turkey , 1982 .
as head of the aavso for over 30 years , she collected observations of variable stars by amateur astronomers from around the world .
she coordinated many important observing programs between amateur observers and professional astronomers .
she was also keenly interested in education and student science projects .
mattei won many awards , including the centennial medal of the société astronomique de france , 1987 ; george van biesbroeck prize , american astronomical society , 1993 ; leslie peltier award , astronomical league , 1993 ; first giovanni battista lacchini award for collaboration with amateur astronomers , unione astrofili italiani , 1995 ; and the jackson-gwilt medal of the royal astronomical society , 1995 .
asteroid 11695 mattei is named in her honor .
she died of leukemia in boston in march 2004 .
