Edward L. (Ned) Wright researches infrared astronomy and cosmology and is currently the Principal Investigator of the Wide field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) Midex project, which launched in December of 2009. Dr. Wright is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his science work includes serving on the InfraRed Telescope Facility (SIRTF) Science Working Group, the SIRTF project (renamed the Spitzer Space Telescope) since 1976, the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) since 1978, and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), which was launched in June 2001. In 2004 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 2007 he was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.