Chi-kwan "CK" Chan, PhD

Continuing status (tenured-equivalent) Computational Astrophysicist and AI-for-Science researcher working at the intersection of machine learning and large-scale scientific computing. Faculty member in Astronomy, Data Science, and Applied Mathematics. Leader of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, a large-scale international consortium recognized for imaging black holes, and architect of its computational and data-processing infrastructure. Developed scalable algorithms and AI-driven methods to accelerate scientific inference, automate data processing, and enable discovery from petabyte-scale datasets. A Principal Investigator of EHT-MOVIE, aimed to produce the first time-resolved movies of black holes. Department of Energy INCITE reviewer; evaluated AI-and simulation-driven projects for access to the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Avid hiker; biked across the continental United States on the TransAmerica Trail.

I am a dad of two. My wife and I met in Boston, and we enjoys spending time outdoors. My connection to the outdoors began early. Growing up in a working-class family in Hong Kong, my father often took our family hiking and fishing on weekends. Simple, affordable outings that became some of my fondest memories. I was a Scout as a teenager, where I developed outdoor and leadership skills that continue to shape how I engage with the outdoors.

After moving to the United States, I continued these activities, often organizing hiking and camping trips with friends. In the summer of 2010, I spent two months biking across the United States between my Harvard ITC Fellowship and my Nordita Fellowship.

Most recently, I joined Troop 211 in Arizona, where my boys are now Scouts, allowing our family to share time outdoors while passing along practical skills and a spirit of exploration.