David Spergel, Ph.D.

I joined the Flatiron Institute in 2016 as founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics. In 2021 I became president of the Simons Foundation. My research interests range from the search for planets around nearby stars to the shape of the universe.

Using microwave background observations from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, I have measured the age, shape and composition of the universe. Our observations have played a significant role in establishing the standard model of cosmology.

I played a leading role in defining the science program of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will study the nature of dark energy, complete the demographic survey of extrasolar planets, characterize the atmospheres of nearby planets and survey the universe with more than 100 times the field of view of the Hubble Space Telescope. I have played a significant role in designing the coronagraph and in shaping the overall mission.

Since completing my Ph.D. work, I have been interested in using laboratory experiments and astronomical observations to probe the nature of dark matter and look for new physics.

After 30 years at Princeton, I have now retired and am full-time at the Simons Foundation. I am now the Charles Young Professor of Astronomy Emeritus on the Class of 1897 Foundation at Princeton University. I was department chair for nearly a decade. During my tenure as chair, the department was consistently ranked No. 1 by both the National Research Council and U.S. News and World Report. I am an associate faculty member in both the department of physics and the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton. I have been the primary mentor for over 32 graduate students, 35 postdoctoral fellows and 60 undergraduates, and I continue to advise and mentor graduate students at Princeton.

I recently chaired the NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team. I also serve on the boards of the Science Philanthropy Alliance, the Carnegie Institute of Science and the New York Genome Center.

Here are links to my recent and most-cited papers. My Google Scholar h-index is 120, and I have over 100,000 citations.