France Anne Cordova

France Anne Córdova (born August 5, 1947) is the seventh chancellor of the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and an astrophysicist. She graduated from Stanford with a bachelor's degree in English and received her Ph.D from California Institute of Technology in astrophysics. She was the youngest person and the first woman to hold the position of NASA Chief Scientist. She was the recipient of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the agency's highest honor. Cordova has published over 100 scientific papers and was named one of "America's 100 Brightest Scientists Under 40" by Science Digest magazine.