Catherine Asaro (born November 6, 1955) is an American science fiction and fantasy author, singer, and teacher. She is best known for her Saga of the Skolian Empire series, which masterfully blends hard science fiction with romance elements.

Catherine Asaro

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Early Life and Education

Asaro was born in Oakland, California, and grew up in El Cerrito. She attended Kennedy High School in Richmond, California, as part of the Richmond Voluntary Integration Plan. She holds a Bachelor of Science with highest honors in chemistry from UCLA and both a master’s in physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard University.

Academic and Teaching Career

Beyond her writing, Asaro teaches mathematics, physics, and chemistry. She directed the Chesapeake Math Program and coached nationally ranked teams comprising home, private, and public school students. Notably, her teams participated in prestigious competitions such as those held by Princeton and the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament. She also taught a gifted program in math and science at the Yang Academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where her students excelled in national competitions, including the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS).

Writing Career

Saga of the Skolian Empire

Asaro’s Saga of the Skolian Empire is a series of science fiction novels that intertwine advanced scientific concepts with intricate character relationships. The series includes:

  • Primary Inversion (1995)
  • Catch the Lightning (1996)
  • The Last Hawk (1997)
  • The Radiant Seas (1998)
  • Ascendant Sun (2000)
  • The Quantum Rose (2000) – Winner of the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel
  • Spherical Harmonic (2001)
  • The Moon’s Shadow (2003)
  • Skyfall (2003)
  • Schism (2004)
  • The Final Key (2005)
  • The Ruby Dice (2008)
  • Diamond Star (2009)
  • Carnelians (2011)

Other Works

In addition to the Skolian Empire series, Asaro has authored several other novels and short stories, including:

  • The Veiled Web (1999)
  • The Phoenix Code (2000)
  • Sunrise Alley (2004)
  • Alpha (2006)

Her works often explore complex scientific and mathematical concepts, reflecting her extensive academic background.

Advocacy and Public Speaking

Asaro is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government on future trends affecting national security. She advocates for increasing the participation of girls and women in STEM fields and for greater diversity in these areas. Her fiction often challenges traditional gender roles and literary expectations. She has been an invited speaker or visiting professor at various institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard, Georgetown University, NASA, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Dance and Performance

A former ballet and jazz dancer, Asaro has performed with dance companies and in musicals across the United States. She founded and served as artistic director and principal dancer for two dance groups at Harvard: The Mainly Jazz Dance Company and the Harvard University Ballet. After her graduation, her undergraduate students continued Mainly Jazz, establishing it as a club at the college.

Personal Life

Asaro was married to John Kendall Cannizzo (1957–2018), an astrophysicist at NASA. They have one daughter, a ballet dancer who studied mathematics at the University of Cambridge and UC Berkeley.

Note: This post is based on publicly available information from Wikipedia.