Rieke has made contributions in: 1.) the starburst phenomenon, where a galaxy's properties are dominated by a very violent and short episode of star formation; 2.) the Galactic Center, the "local" prototype for active galactic nuclei; 3.) the origin of the infrared outputs of other active galactic nuclei; 4.) characterizing planetary debris disks, signposts for other planetary systems that cannot be detected in other ways; 5.) studying members of our own planetary system, among other topics. He was the Principal Investigator for the Multiband Infrared Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS). He and his wife Marcia (NIRCam PI) talk a lot about the Webb telescope. In addition, they enjoy travel and photography. Every year they assemble a calendar of travel pictures taken in the previous year and distribute it to their friends on the Webb telescope project.