Manfred Cuntz
Manfred Cuntz is a German astrophysicist based in the United States since 1988. He is a Distinguished Professor of physics at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). His primary research interests include stellar astrophysics, astrobiology, and planetary habitability. Early life and education Manfred Cuntz was born on April 21, 1958, in Landau in der Pfalz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He was the first-born son of Gerhard Hermann Cuntz and Irene Emma Cuntz (née Messerschmitt) and was raised in Bornheim. His family's business was in viticulture and livestock agriculture. As the eldest son, Cuntz would have inherited the farm. Early on, however, his family deemed him unsuitable for farm work and, instead, had him focus on his education. Cuntz attended secondary school at the Eduard-Spranger Gymnasium in Landau, from which he graduated with the Abitur in 1977. Even though he was a dedicated student, especially in mathematics and the natural sciences, academic success did not come easily to Cuntz in all subjects. In fact, he had to repeat the eighth grade. After that, however, he became a top student, especially in the last years of secondary school when he was able to focus on the subjects of mathematics, chemistry, and social studies. Cuntz went on to study physics and astronomy at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. There, he earned a Diplom (equivalent to having earned both a U.S. bachelor's and master's degrees) in Physics in 1985. He earned his PhD in Astronomy from the same university in 1988 with a dissertation on stellar atmospheric heating and stellar winds, titled Generation of Extended Chromospheres and Mass Loss of Late-Type Giant Stars due to Acoustic Shock Waves. Career After completing his degrees at the University of Heidelberg, Manfred Cuntz moved to the United States. He held positions as a postdoctoral research assistant in the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) at the University of Colorado from 1989 to 1991 and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) of the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) from 1992 to 1993. In 1994, he returned to the University of Heidelberg as Habilitation Fellow. Then, he joined the Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research at the University of Alabama in Huntsville from 1996 until 1999. In 2000, Cuntz became a visiting professor in the physics department of the University of Texas at Arlington, then moved up the tenure track to become Professor in 2012. He is an editor of the journal Astronomische Nachrichten (Astronomical Notes). Research Cuntz's research often deals with questions about the probability and possible distribution of extraterrestrial life and "is based on a pure theoretical approach." He developed "BinHab, a new online tool that can be used to calculate the regions of binary systems favorable for life." The interim dean of the UTA College of Science, James Grover, said this tool "holds enormous potential for those who study space in the search for life." In 2000, Manfred Cuntz, together with Steven Saar of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, made predictions "that planetary magnetic