Debra Meloy Elmegreen (born November 23, 1952[2] in South Bend, Indiana) is an American astronomer.

She was the first woman to graduate from Princeton University with a degree in astrophysics, and she was the first female post-doctoral researcher at the Carnegie Observatories.

[11] In 1997, Elmegreen published an astronomy textbook for undergraduates titled, Galaxies and Galactic Structure, through Prentice Hall.

She was president of the American Astronomical Society from 2010-2012,[11][12] and was appointed as a board member of the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey through the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

[15] In 2018, Elmegreen won the George Van Biesbroeck Prize for her unselfish service to astronomy on regional, national, and international scales.