Maurice Wilson, Walther Class of 2012, is an astrophysicist at the High Altitude Observatory, a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research center in Boulder, CO.  

Following high school, Maurice attended Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL where he received a B.S. in Space Physics.  During his sophomore year, he joined a professor’s astronomy lab where he wrote code to analyze data. “My experience in Web Design class at Walther learning html really helped,” explained Maurice. That led to an internship opportunity through an NSF REU (research experience for undergrads) after his sophomore year. He was accepted at Harvard that summer and researched solar physics and stellar astrophysics. 

In January of his junior year, Maurice presented on that summer research at an American Astronomical Society (AAS) conference.  A Harvard professor was impressed enough with his work and presentation to invite Maurice for a second summer internship. That next summer he researched ways to detect small Earth-like exoplanets.  

After graduating from Embry Riddle, Maurice received an NSF graduate research fellowship and spent two years earning an MA from Harvard followed by four years in the PhD program there.  In 2022 he received his PhD in Astrophysics from Harvard and won a postdoctoral fellowship from the NSF.  For the last two years, this fellowship was conducted at the High Altitude Observatory where Maurice studied solar flares and coronal mass ejections. “It is good to now finally be a full employee at HAO,” commented Maurice.

Maurice gives a lot of credit to Walther in setting him up for this success.  “My chemistry class with Mr. Tuomi and two physics classes with Mr. Murphy really got me excited about science.  My AP Calc class prepared me for the mathematical challenges in my undergrad program, and the perseverance I learned in AP US History helped me get through some tough undergrad classes.” 

“Wrestling really changed my life. Through the hardships I grew in perseverance and gained fearlessness. It can be really intimidating to talk to Harvard professors, but through wrestling I learned how to remain calm and collected in any situation.” 

Maurice has already been involved in some world-wide collaborations regarding astrophysics research. He plans to continue doing research, maybe some day at a research university. We look forward to following what Maurice accomplishes throughout his career.