Francois Rigaut

Francois Rigaut is a distinguished academic in the field of astronomy and astrophysics, currently serving as a Professor and Associate Professor at The Australian National University since January 2012, where Francois leads an adaptive optics team. Prior to this role, Francois held the position of Adaptive Optics Senior Scientist at Gemini Observatory from February 1999 to January 2012, overseeing the adaptive optics program and serving as Principal Investigator for the Gemini multi-conjugate AO system, GeMS. Earlier experience includes managing the Adaptive Optics Group at the European Southern Observatory (May 1997 - February 1999) and serving as Resident Astronomer at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (August 1992 - February 1997), where extensive work was done on the PUEO Adaptive Optics system. Francois began a career in research as a PhD student at Observatoire de Paris, contributing to the development of the first adaptive optics system for astronomy, COME-ON. Education includes a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Université Paris Cité and a Master's degree in Physics from Université Lyon II.