David Spergel

David Spergel is an astrophysicist and philanthropic leader. Since July 2021, he has served as president of the Simons Foundation, leading the foundation in its mission to advance the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences.

In his decades-long career, Spergel has helmed major astrophysics research projects and advocated for government investment in science. Before becoming Simons Foundation president, he chaired the astrophysics department at Princeton University and was the founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Simons Foundation’s Flatiron Institute. Spergel has been the primary mentor for more than 100 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Many of his mentees are now academic leaders.

Spergel’s work has been recognized with a MacArthur Fellowship, the Shaw Prize, the Breakthrough Prize, and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.