Matthew Willson

Matthew Willson (1990–2022) Stefan Kraus and colleagues remember a charismatic colleague whose career in observational astronomy ended far too soon. High angular resolution astronomy has suffered a great loss with the sudden death of Dr. Matthew Willson at age 31. Matthew was visiting his long-time girlfriend Katherine Shepard (a PhD student in astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta) when he was struck by a stray gunshot that entered the apartment where he was staying. He died in hospital a few days later on 18 January 2022. This tragic and premature end to the life of such a promising young scientist has devastated his many colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic. Matthew Willson was born in London on 18 March 1990. He loved the stars from his earliest years, and, blessed with an amazing memory, he was on his way to a lifetime of learning. He began his formal life in astrophysics as a student (2008–12) at Royal Holloway, University of London, just down the road from his childhood home. There he worked with Stewart Boogert on the design, construction, and calibration of a spectrometer for use with the university's 30 cm telescope. He led students on many cold evenings, teaching telescope use and wrestling equipment into operation for programmes of photometry and spectroscopy.