Hanshin Lee

By McDonald Observatory

January 1, 2024

Hanshin Lee joined McDonald Observatory in 2008 after earning his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Oxford. Lee’s research revolves around the understanding of the fundamental behavior of light propagation through optical and photonic devices, and its practical application in astronomical instrumentation.

Lee is currently serving as a senior research scientist and has been the lead scientist for several of the Observatory’s facilities, including the Simmons Dark Energy Optical System for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, the new VIRUS2 spectrograph for the Harlan J. Smith Telescope, and the GMTNIRS instrument for the Giant Magellan Telescope. He is also leading a group of scientists, engineers, and students to develop “nano-scale” photonic optical surface structures to help instruments efficiently collect photons from super faint “cosmic-scale” objects and structures across space and time.