David N. Spergel

Charles Young Professor of Astronomy

Department Chair

 

Department of Astrophysical Sciences   

Princeton University, NJ 08544-0010

http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~dns

dns@astro.princeton.edu

 

Education:

PhD (Astronomy) Harvard 1985 Advisor: William H Press

Visiting Scholar, Oxford 1983 Advisor: James Binney

AB summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa , Princeton 1982

 

Appointments:

Princeton University, Department of Astrophysical Sciences: Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation (2007-); Currently, Associate Faculty in Physics and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Professor, (1997-2007); Associate Professor (1992-1997); Assistant Professor (1987-1992).

Institute for Advanced Study: Long-Term Member (1985-1987), Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor (2000-1).

 

Honors and Awards:

American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012); Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2010); Citation Laureate (2010); National Academy of Sciences (2008); John T. and Helen D. MacArthur Fellowship (2001); Time Magazine: "One of America's Top Scientists" (2001); AAS Helen B. Warner Prize (1994); NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1998); Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow (1998).

 

Publications:

Spergel is the author of over 225 refereed papers with over 45,000 citations (Hirsch h=80).  His first author 2003 and 2007 WMAP papers are the two most cited papers in astronomy and physics in the new millennium.  He is a coauthor of Bennett et al. (2003), the third most cited paper of the new millennium.

 

Mentorship:

Spergel has mentored over 25 PhD students and 25 postdocs.   His students have been highly successful.  One metric is the list of prizes won by his students and postdocs just over the past three years: Sofja Kovalevskaja Award (1.45 MEuros; Hennawi), Order of the British Empire (Petters); Canadian Early Research Award, Bappu Gold Medal, Astronomical Society of India (Afshordi);   European Research Council IDEAS Fellowship (1 M Euros: both Verde and Dunkley); Nishinomiya-Yukawa Prize (Komatsu); Presidential Early Career Award (Bean); Cotrell (Bean); Philip Leverhulme Prize (Peiris) and Hubble Fellowship (Reid).

 

Leadership:

Spergel has served as Department Chair since 2006.  He chaired the NAS ASTRO 2010 Panel on Cosmology and Fundamental Physics, the KITP Advisory Board, the NASA Astrophysics Subcommittee, and numerous reviews.  He is one of the founders of the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (IPMU) in Tokyo. He currently chairs the NAS Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics.