About
Malcolm Coe is an Emeritus Professor of Astronomy at the University of Southampton. He originally trained as an astronomer at Imperial College, London University before winning an National Science Foundation Fellowship to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Washington DC for several years. In summer 1979 he took up his current post at the University of Southampton, UK. In 1988 he won a Fulbright Scholarship to spend a sabbatical at Caltech, USA.
Throughout his time at Southampton he has played a significant and creative role in the education and outreach activities of the school. From 2005-2008 he was Head of the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Southampton, UK. During that time the school was rated at the highest level for research in the Research Assessment Exercise. He has played many major roles in school, perhaps most significantly, whilst Head, he helped persuade HEFCE to invest £12.5M in physics departments in the SE England.
For several years he was Senior Tutor in the department, supporting students with welfare issues, and in 2018 he won the Student Union award for the best pastoral support in the faculty. He is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
In 2017 the International Astronomical Union named a Main Belt asteroid after him - 9015Coe.