Roger Malina (born July 6, 1950) is a physicist, astronomer, editor-in-chief of Leonardo magazine and distinguished professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. His work focusses on connections among digital technology, science, and art.
Roger Malina obtained his B.S. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1979.[1] He was Principal Investigator for the NASA Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer Satellite at the University of California, Berkeley.[2].He is former director of the Observatoire Astronomique de Marseille Provence (OAMP) in Marseille, and member of its observational cosmology group, which performs on investigations on the nature of dark matter and dark energy.[3][2][4]
Malina is president of the Association Leonardo in France, which fosters connections between the arts, sciences and technology, and has been the editor-in-chief of Leonardo magazine at MIT Press since 1982.[2] He is also member of the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Study (Institut Méditerranéen de Recherches Avancées, IMERA),[2] which he has helped to set up[2] and which aims at contributing to interdisciplinarity and which places emphasis on the human dimensions of the sciences.[5] He is member of the jury for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2011.[6]
In 2011, Malina was appointed as distinguished professor of art and technology at the University of Texas at Dallas,[2] where he is to teach in Spring 2012.[7]
Roger Malina is the son of Frank Malina, research engineer in rocket propulsion, artist and founder of Leonardo Magazine.