Jerry Nelson (astronomer)

Jerry Nelson
Born(1944-01-15)January 15, 1944
Los Angeles County, California
DiedJune 10, 2017(2017-06-10) (aged 73)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materCalifornia Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley
Known forsegmented mirror telescopes
AwardsDannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (1995)
Kavli Prize for Astrophysics (2010)
Scientific career
Fieldsastronomy
InstitutionsLick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz

Jerry Earl Nelson (January 15, 1944 – June 10, 2017) was an American astronomer known for his pioneering work designing segmented mirror telescopes, which led to him sharing the 2010 Kavli Prize for Astrophysics.

He was the principal designer and project scientist for the Keck telescopes.