Riccardo Giacconi

Riccardo Giacconi was an Italian astrophysicist.

Giacconi has held the positions of professor of physics and astronomy (1982–1997) and research professor (since 1998) at Johns Hopkins University and is now University Professor. During that time he also held the position of Director General of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) (1993–1999). He is currently principal investigator for the Chandra Deep Field-South project with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.Giacconi received his Laurea from the University of Milan before moving to the US to pursue a career in astrophysics research. In 1956, his Fulbright Fellowship led him to go to the United States to collaborate with physics professor R. W. Thompson at Indiana University.

Giacconi won the nobel prize along with Masatoshi Koshiba, and Raymond Davis Jr for "pioneering contributions to astrophysics, which have led to the discovery of cosmic X-ray sources."