American astrophysicist
David Nathaniel Spergel is an American
theoretical astrophysicist and the
Emeritus
Charles A. Young Professor of
Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation at
Princeton University . Since 2021, he has been the President of the
Simons Foundation .
[5] He is known for his work on the
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project. In 2022, Spergel accepted the chair of
NASA's UAP independent study team .
Early life and education
Spergel was born to a
Jewish family
[6] in
Rochester ,
New York . His father, Martin Spergel, was also a
physicist and a
professor at
York College ,
City University of New York ; he died in 2021.
[7] The junior Spergel attended
John Glenn High School in
Huntington, New York .
[8] He has a brother and a sister.
[9]
Spergel graduated
summa cum laude with a
Bachelor of Arts (AB) from
Princeton University in 1982,
[10] after completing a senior thesis on
red giants under the supervision of
Gillian R. Knapp .
[10]
[11] He then went to the
University of Oxford as a visiting scholar in 1983, where he studied with
James Binney .
[10] He obtained his
Master of Arts (AM) in 1984 and his
PhD in 1985, both from
Harvard University .
[12]
Career
At the invitation of
John N. Bahcall , Spergel joined the
Institute for Advanced Studies after his
PhD . He left and moved to
Princeton University in 1987 as an
assistant professor .
[6]
[9]
[13] He was promoted to
associate professor in 1992 and
full professor in 1997. In 2007, he was appointed the
Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation.
[10]
Spergel joined the
Flatiron Institute in 2016 as the founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics.
[14] Citing the hesitance to hold onto 2 positions,
[6] he retired from Princeton University in 2019 at the age of 59, and has remained as
emeritus professor since.
[15]
Spergel is a 2001
MacArthur Fellow ,
[12] and was a member of the
NASA Advisory Council and chair of the Space Studies Board.
[16] He was the
Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor at the
Institute for Advanced Study from 2000 to 2001.
[10]
Since 1994, Spergel is part of the
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project consortium.
[9]
[17] Currently, he is a member of the
Simons Observatory ,
[18] chairs the Science Definition Team of the
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly known as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope),
[19] and sits on the Board of Trustees of the
Carnegie Institution for Science (since 2022).
[20]
In 2022, Spergel was invited to lead
NASA's UAP independent study team of sixteen members to provide guidance in better understanding "unidentified anomalous phenomena".
[21]
[22]
Honors and awards
References
^
"David Nathaniel Spergel" .
Mathematics Genealogy Project . Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^
"Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations, 2011-2023" .
Princeton University . Retrieved September 15, 2023 .
^
"David Nathaniel Spergel" .
Mathematics Genealogy Project . Retrieved October 12, 2023 .
^
a
b
"David Nathaniel Spergel" .
American Academy of Arts & Sciences . Archived from
the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^
"David Spergel Takes the Helm as President of the Simons Foundation" .
Simons Foundation . July 1, 2021. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
"David Spergel" .
American Institute of Physics . November 2020. Archived from
the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^ Paglione, Tim (2022).
"A Founding Prof. Dies: Tribute by a Faculty Mentee" .
York College ,
City University of New York . Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"National Merit Scholars Listed In New York, Jersey, Connecticut" .
The New York Times . April 30, 1978. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
"Autobiography of David N Spergel" .
Shaw Prize Foundation . Archived from
the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^
a
b
c
d
e
"David N. Spergel" . Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^ Spergel, David (1982).
The jolly red giant: late-type evolved stars and their evolution to planetary nebulae .
Princeton ,
New Jersey : Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University.
^
a
b
"David N. Spergel" .
MacArthur Foundation . October 1, 2001. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"David Spergel" .
Institute for Advanced Study . December 9, 2019. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"David Spergel, Ph.D."
Simons Foundation . Archived from
the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^
"Eighteen faculty members transfer to emeritus status" . Princeton University. June 24, 2019. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
a
b
"David Spergel Receives NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal" .
Simons Foundation . April 13, 2022. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"WMAP Institutions" .
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe . Archived from
the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022 .
^
"Simons Observatory Collaborators" .
Simons Observatory . May 16, 2020. Archived from
the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022 .
^
"WFIRST at the 221st AAS Meeting" .
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center ,
California Institute of Technology . Archived from
the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022 .
^
"David Spergel joins Carnegie Science Board of Trustees" .
Carnegie Institution for Science . January 28, 2022. Archived from
the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022 .
^ Roulette, Joey (June 10, 2022).
"NASA to form scientific team to study UFOs" .
Reuters . Archived from
the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022 .
^
"NASA to Set Up Independent Study on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena" .
NASA . June 9, 2022. Archived from
the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022 .
^
"Astronomical Society Announces Prize Recipients for 1994" .
Physics Today . 47 (12): 75. 1994.
Bibcode :
1994PhT....47X..75. .
doi :
10.1063/1.2808582 .
^
"David Spergel" .
National Academy of Sciences . Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2020 .
^
"Press Release" (Press release).
Hong Kong :
Shaw Prize Foundation . May 27, 2010. Archived from
the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022 .
^ Bjerklie, David (2012).
"The 25 Most Influential Space Scientists" .
Time . Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"365 days: Nature's 10" .
Nature . 516 (7531): 311–319. 2014.
Bibcode :
2014Natur.516..311. .
doi :
10.1038/516311a .
PMID
25519114 .
S2CID
4403548 .
^
"New Jersey Astrophysicist David Spergel Wins 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize" (Press release).
Washington, D.C. :
American Institute of Physics . January 16, 2015. Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"FACULTY AWARD: Spergel receives NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal" . Princeton University. January 31, 2017. Archived from
the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022 .
^
"Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Laureats: 2018" .
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics . Archived from
the original on July 5, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022 .
^
"AAS Fellows Class of 2020 (Legacy Fellows)" .
American Astronomical Society . Archived from
the original on July 7, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2022 .
^
"Elected Members" .
Further reading
Goodman, Billy. (2002) "
Big Days for the Big Bang ". Princeton Alumni Weekly , p. 24.
Current Biography Yearbook Vol. 66 (2005). H. W. Wilson Company. pp. 535–536.
External links
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