Stephen R. Taylor, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Vanderbilt University, was awarded the prestigious Chancellor’s Award for Research, one of the highest awards given to faculty at Vanderbilt University.
According to Vanderbilt University, the Chancellor’s Award honors significant impact in their field of study or for their advancement of human understanding of the varied experiences, contributions and values of all people. The Award recognizes excellence on the part of faculty in published research, scholarship or creative expression.
During the August 2025 ceremony, Taylor was honored with the prestigious Award, citing his significant contributions and leadership within the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav Collaboration, specifically citing the NANOGrav 15 year landmark paper, “The NANOGrav 15-Year Data Set: Evidence for a Gravitational-Wave Background,” published in Astrophysical Journal Letters in 2023.
“His work pushes the boundary of our understanding of the universe and opens exciting new avenues to explore,” states Vanderbilt Chancellor, Daniel Diermeier.
By exploiting exquisitely precise pulsar timing, Taylor’s team uncovered clear, population -level signal of nanohertz gravitational waves, an anticipated consequence of Einstein’s General Relativity. Taylor conceived and coordinated key elements of the effort, helping to build the modern statistical framework for pulsar-timing arrays and introducing analysis techniques that sharpen the ability to understand the origin and properties of these gravitational-wave signals.
In addition to his leadership, his work was critical in transforming a decade and a half of observations into compelling evidence for a gravitational-wave background that permeates the universe.