Paolo Farinella

Paolo Farinella was born in 1953 near Ferrara (Italy). He received his degree from the University and the Scuola Normale of Pisa in 1975. Subsequently, he became a graduate student of Giuseppe Colombo. Following graduate work, he worked as an astronomer at the Milan-Merate Observatory from 1977-1981. Between 1982 and 1998, he was a university researcher at the Scuola Normale and the University Pisa, teaching Physics and Celestial Mechanics. He was one of the founders of the Space Mechanics Group within the Department of Mathematics at the University di Pisa. In 1992-94 he stayed at the Nice Observatory as an ESA "G. Colombo" fellow. In the summer of 1998 he won a national competition for positions of associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics in Italian universities, and since late 1998 he teaches at the University of Trieste. His research is in the study of the dynamical and collisional history of minor bodies, the asteroid-meteorite relationship, the nongravitational effects on artificial satellite orbits and the future evolution of Earth-orbiting debris. He is also interested in the relationships between civilian and military space technologies (e.g., reconnaissance satellites, nuclear power in space), and is a member of Pugwash and USPID (the Italian Union of Scientists for Disarmament). He has published over 120 papers in refereed journals, two textbooks (in English) and over 50 popular astronomy articles (in Italian, French, English, and Spanish). He has been a member of the Editorial Board of Icarus in 1995-97, and is now an Associate Editor of Icarus and Meteoritics and Planetary Science. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union since 1979 and an affiliate member of the Division of Planetary Science (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society since 1992. Since October 1998, he is a member of the Solar System Working Group of the European Space Agency. Asteroid 3248 Farinella bears his name.