J Ward Moody

J. Ward Moody (born December 18, 1954) is a professor of astronomy at Brigham Young University (BYU).

Moody received his bachelor's degree in physics from BYU and his Ph.D. in astronomy from The University of Michigan. His advisor was Robert P. Kirshner. He was co-advised by Gordon McAlpine after Kirshner moved to Harvard. His dissertation established the existence of small, dwarf galaxies with emission-lines on the edges of galaxy supercluster voids.

Moody did post-doctoral research at The Institute for Astronomy at the University of New Mexico where he worked with Stephen Gregory and Jack Burns on questions of large-scale galaxy structure. Following this, Moody was a professor of astronomy at Weber State University until he joined the BYU faculty in 1990 as a professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department .

Moody is best known for his work in astronomical publishing. He served three years as assistant managing editor of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series (ASPCS) from 2001 to 2004 when he was appointed as Managing Editor, a post he held for 5 years until 2009. Under his direction the ASPCS, the largest publisher of astronomical conference information in the world, transitioned to full electronic submissions and distribution without a decline in service or revenue. He was elected to the American Astronomical Society publications board serving from December 2010 to 2014.

Moody received both the BYU Alcuin Award and Karl G. Maeser General Education Professorship for excellence in general education teaching. He was involved in The KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey. and is the principal author of the textbook Physical Science Foundations. A devout Latterday-day Saint, he is a noted speaker on the topic of science and religion.