Christopher T. Russell is a Distinguished Professor in the Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences department at the University of California, Los Angeles. He was the Principal Investigator of NASA's Dawn ion-propelled mission to Vesta and Ceres. He has been awarded the American Geophysical Union Macelwane Award and Fleming medal, COSPAR's Space Science Award, NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (2012) and Distinguished Public Service Medal (2017), and the National Aeronautic Association Collier Award to the Dawn Flight Team (2015). He has built and operated instruments on many space missions.