1942-2026

Thijs de Graauw was a pioneer and world expert in the early infrared and millimeter-wave radio astronomy communities. He is best known for his achievements as Principal Investigator on three major space flight instruments: Short Wavelength Spectrometer (SWS); Infrared Space Observatory (ISO); and Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI).  The Founding Director of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), and an active member of the THz community. 

Amongst many awards he achieved in his tenured career, he most recently received the Kenneth J Button Prize in 2025 for pioneering contributions to millimeter and sub-millimeter astronomy, including instruments for JCMT, ISO, IRAS, and HIFI and leading the Joint ALMA.

A short obituary can be found here: ueel/thijs-de-graauw-overleden/
In Memoriam can be found here: https://local.strw.leidenuniv.nl/news/news_item.php?id=693
A detailed biography of Dr. de Graauw’s technical contributions and career path can be found here:
P. H. Siegel, “Terahertz Pioneer: Mattheus (Thijs) de Graauw “Intention, Attention, Execution”,” in IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 138-146, March 2014, doi: 10.1109/TTHZ.2014.2304671.