Willy Benz

Willy Benz is a Swiss astrophysicist and President of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). He is Professor Emeritus of Physics and Astrophysics at the University of Bern and was the founding director of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research PlanetS. His research focuses on the formation and evolution of planets within and beyond our Solar System.

Before joining the University of Bern, he held positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Harvard University, and the University of Arizona. He served as Principal Investigator of ESA’s CHEOPS mission and as President of the ESO Council.