Physics Department | Lehigh University


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M. Virginia McSwain
Associate Professor of Physics

Lehigh
University


office Room 405, Lewis Lab
phone 610-758-5322
fax 610-758-5730
email

Ginny McSwain received her Ph.D. in Astronomy in 2004 from Georgia State University, under the supervision of Doug Gies. Her dissertation was titled, "The Evolution of Massive Stars: The Be Star and Microquasar Phenomena". She then held an NSF Astronomy & Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship at Yale University, continuing her studies of massive O- and B-type stars, classical Be stars, and runaway massive binaries. She joined the faculty at Lehigh University in 2007.

Fields of Interest
  • Massive O- and B-type stars, binaries, and their evolution
  • Young open clusters and OB associations
  • High mass X-ray binaries and γ-ray binaries with neutron star or black hole companions of OB stars
  • Classical Be stars
  • Runaway massive binaries, ejected from open clusters by supernova or close gravitational encounters
  • Origin of magnetic fields in massive stars