David Spergel

{{Infobox scientist

| name = David Spergel

| image = File:David_Spergel.jpg

| caption = David Spergel speaks during a public meeting of NASA's UAP independent study team on May 31, 2023.

| birth_name = David Nathaniel Spergel{{cite web |title=David Nathaniel Spergel |url=https://www.amacad.org/person/david-nathaniel-spergel |publisher=American Academy of Arts & Sciences |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706040503/https://www.amacad.org/person/david-nathaniel-spergel |archive-date=July 6, 2022}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1961|03|25|mf=y}}

| nationality = American

| field = Astrophysics

| known_for = Co-leading the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe project

| alma_mater = Princeton University
Harvard University

| workplaces = Princeton University
Flatiron Institute
Simons Foundation

| thesis_title = The astrophysical implications of weakly interacting, massive particles

| thesis_url = http://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990012341890203941/catalog

| thesis_year = 1985

| doctoral_advisor = William H. Press

| awards = Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy
Shaw Prize in Astronomy
Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics

| doctoral_students = Arlie Petters
Julianne Dalcanton
Hiranya Peiris
Shirley Ho{{cite web |title=David Nathaniel Spergel |url=https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=74904 |publisher=Mathematics Genealogy Project |access-date=July 6, 2022 }}
Blake Daniel Sherwin
William Coulton

{{cite web |title=Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations, 2011-2023 |url=https://dataspace.princeton.edu/handle/88435/dsp01t722h882n/browse?type=advisor&order=ASC&rpp=20&value=Spergel%2C+David++N |publisher=Princeton University |access-date=September 15, 2023 }}
Katharine R. Long{{cite web |title=David Nathaniel Spergel |url=https://www.mathgenealogy.org/id.php?id=74904 |publisher=Mathematics Genealogy Project |access-date=October 12, 2023 }}

}}

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.{{cite news |title=David Spergel Takes the Helm as President of the Simons Foundation |url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2021/07/01/david-spergel-takes-the-helm-as-president-of-the-simons-foundation/ |date=July 1, 2021 |publisher=Simons Foundation |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707024637/https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2021/07/01/david-spergel-takes-the-helm-as-president-of-the-simons-foundation/}} 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{{cite web |title=David Spergel |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/45288 |publisher=American Institute of Physics |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706033958/https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/45288 |archive-date=July 6, 2022}} 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.{{cite news |first=Tim |last=Paglione |title=A Founding Prof. Dies: Tribute by a Faculty Mentee |url=https://www.york.cuny.edu/news/legendary-york-college-physics-professor-dies |access-date=July 7, 2022 |publisher=York College, City University of New York |date=2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707033625/https://www.york.cuny.edu/news/legendary-york-college-physics-professor-dies |archive-date=July 7, 2022}} His mother was a high school home-economics teacher.{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Daniel |date=2019 |title=Find Your Path: Unconventional Lessons from 36 Leading Scientists and Engineers |url=https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262537544/find-your-path/ |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=MIT Press |pages=203-9 |language=en-US}} The junior Spergel attended John Glenn High School in Huntington, New York.{{cite news |title=National Merit Scholars Listed In New York, Jersey, Connecticut |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/30/archives/national-merit-scholars-listed-in-new-york-jersey-connecticut.html |access-date=July 7, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=April 30, 1978 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707030412/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/30/archives/national-merit-scholars-listed-in-new-york-jersey-connecticut.html |archive-date=July 7, 2022}} He has a brother and a sister.{{cite web |title=Autobiography of David N Spergel |url=https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/astronomy/2010/autobiography-of-david-n-spergel |publisher=Shaw Prize Foundation |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706033703/https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/astronomy/2010/autobiography-of-david-n-spergel |archive-date=July 6, 2022}} He considered his father, who had "a really satisfying career as a college teacher" a role model, especially the aspect of his father's work in mentoring students who were "first in their family" to attend college.

Spergel graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts (AB) from Princeton University in 1982,{{cite web |title=David N. Spergel |url=https://www.astro.princeton.edu/~dns/Spergel_CV.htm |publisher=Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707031053/https://www.astro.princeton.edu/~dns/Spergel_CV.htm |archive-date=July 7, 2022}} after completing a senior thesis on red giants under the supervision of Gillian R. Knapp.{{cite book |last=Spergel |first=David |url=https://catalog.princeton.edu/catalog/3349569 |title=The jolly red giant: late-type evolved stars and their evolution to planetary nebulae |date=1982 |publisher=Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University |location=Princeton, New Jersey}} He then went to the University of Oxford as a visiting scholar in 1983, where he studied with James Binney. He obtained his Master of Arts (AM) in 1984 and his PhD in 1985, both from Harvard University.{{cite web |title=David N. Spergel |url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2001/david-n-spergel#searchresults |publisher=MacArthur Foundation |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707024244/https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2001/david-n-spergel |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |date=October 1, 2001}}

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.{{cite web |title=David Spergel |date=December 9, 2019 |url=https://www.ias.edu/scholars/david-spergel |publisher=Institute for Advanced Study |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707034735/https://www.ias.edu/scholars/david-spergel |archive-date=July 7, 2022}} 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.

Spergel joined the Flatiron Institute in 2016 as the founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics.{{cite web |title=David Spergel, Ph.D. |url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/people/david-spergel/ |publisher=Simons Foundation |access-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706033627/https://www.simonsfoundation.org/people/david-spergel/ |archive-date=July 6, 2022}} Citing the hesitance to hold onto 2 positions, he retired from Princeton University in 2019 at the age of 59, and has remained as emeritus professor since.{{cite news |title=Eighteen faculty members transfer to emeritus status |url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2019/06/24/eighteen-faculty-members-transfer-emeritus-status |access-date=July 7, 2022 |publisher=Princeton University |date=June 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707041259/https://www.princeton.edu/news/2019/06/24/eighteen-faculty-members-transfer-emeritus-status |archive-date=July 7, 2022}}

Spergel is a 2001 MacArthur Fellow, and was a member of the NASA Advisory Council and chair of the Space Studies Board.{{cite news |title=David Spergel Receives NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal |url=https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2022/04/13/david-spergel-receives-nasas-exceptional-public-service-medal/ |access-date=July 7, 2022 |publisher=Simons Foundation |date=April 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707013630/https://www.simonsfoundation.org/2022/04/13/david-spergel-receives-nasas-exceptional-public-service-medal/ |archive-date=July 7, 2022}} He was the Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study from 2000 to 2001.

Since 1994, Spergel is part of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) project consortium.{{cite web |title=WMAP Institutions |url=https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/team.html |publisher=Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe |access-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705084812/https://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/mission/team.html |archive-date=July 5, 2022}} Currently, he is a member of the Simons Observatory,{{cite web |title=Simons Observatory Collaborators |date=May 16, 2020 |url=https://simonsobservatory.org/collaborators-for-website-draft-from-google-sheet/ |publisher=Simons Observatory |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708022601/https://simonsobservatory.org/collaborators-for-website-draft-from-google-sheet/ |archive-date=July 8, 2022}} chairs the Science Definition Team of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (formerly known as the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope),{{cite web |title=WFIRST at the 221st AAS Meeting |url=https://roman.ipac.caltech.edu/mtgs/WFIRST_AAS_221.html |publisher=Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, California Institute of Technology |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708022956/https://roman.ipac.caltech.edu/mtgs/WFIRST_AAS_221.html |archive-date=July 8, 2022}} and sits on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institution for Science (since 2022).{{cite news |title=David Spergel joins Carnegie Science Board of Trustees |url=https://carnegiescience.edu/news/david-spergel-joins-carnegie-science-board-trustees |access-date=July 6, 2022 |publisher=Carnegie Institution for Science |date=January 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706034003/https://carnegiescience.edu/news/david-spergel-joins-carnegie-science-board-trustees |archive-date=July 6, 2022}}

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".{{cite news |last1=Roulette |first1=Joey |title=NASA to form scientific team to study UFOs |url=https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasa-form-scientific-team-study-ufos-2022-06-09/ |access-date=July 8, 2022 |work=Reuters |date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708024305/https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/nasa-form-scientific-team-study-ufos-2022-06-09/ |archive-date=July 8, 2022}}{{cite news |title=NASA to Set Up Independent Study on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena |url=https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-set-up-independent-study-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomena/ |access-date=July 8, 2022 |publisher=NASA |date=June 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708023832/https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-to-set-up-independent-study-on-unidentified-aerial-phenomena/ |archive-date=July 8, 2022}}

Honors and awards

Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy (1994){{cite journal |title=Astronomical Society Announces Prize Recipients for 1994 |url=https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.2808582 |date=1994 |journal=Physics Today |volume=47 |issue=12 |pages=75 |bibcode=1994PhT....47X..75. |doi=10.1063/1.2808582|url-access=subscription }}
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (2007){{cite web |title=David Spergel |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/5229.html |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |access-date=July 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707014502/http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/members/5229.html |archive-date=July 7, 2022}}
Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2010){{cite press release |date=May 27, 2010 |title=Press Release |url=https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/astronomy/2010/press-release |location=Hong Kong |publisher=Shaw Prize Foundation |access-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705082449/https://www.shawprize.org/prizes-and-laureates/astronomy/2010/press-release |archive-date=July 5, 2022}}
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012)
25 Most Influential Space Scientists, Time (2012){{cite magazine |last1=Bjerklie |first1=David |date=2012 |title=The 25 Most Influential Space Scientists |magazine=Time |url=https://www.cosmotography.com/images/TIME_New_Space_Discoveries.html |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707014043/https://www.cosmotography.com/images/TIME_New_Space_Discoveries.html |archive-date=July 7, 2022}}
Nature's 10 (2014){{cite journal |date=2014 |title=365 days: Nature's 10 |journal=Nature |volume=516 |issue=7531 |pages=311–319 |doi=10.1038/516311a |bibcode=2014Natur.516..311. |pmid=25519114|s2cid=4403548 |doi-access=free }}
Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics (2015){{cite press release |title=New Jersey Astrophysicist David Spergel Wins 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize |url=https://www.aip.org/news/new-jersey-astrophysicist-david-spergel-wins-2015-dannie-heineman-prize |publisher=American Institute of Physics |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707013801/https://www.aip.org/news/new-jersey-astrophysicist-david-spergel-wins-2015-dannie-heineman-prize |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |location=Washington, D.C. |date=January 16, 2015}}
NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal (2017){{cite news |title=FACULTY AWARD: Spergel receives NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal |url=https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/01/31/faculty-award-spergel-receives-nasa-exceptional-public-service-medal |access-date=July 8, 2022 |publisher=Princeton University |date=January 31, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708020641/https://www.princeton.edu/news/2017/01/31/faculty-award-spergel-receives-nasa-exceptional-public-service-medal |archive-date=July 8, 2022}}
Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018){{cite web |title=Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Laureats: 2018 |url=https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/1/P1/Y2018 |publisher=Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics |access-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705081316/https://breakthroughprize.org/Laureates/1/P1/Y2018 |archive-date=July 5, 2022}}
Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (2020){{cite web |url=https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows |title=AAS Fellows Class of 2020 (Legacy Fellows) |publisher=American Astronomical Society |access-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-date=July 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707015613/https://aas.org/grants-and-prizes/aas-fellows}}
NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal (2022) (received the second time)
American Philosophical Society (2022){{cite web |url=https://www.amphilsoc.org/elected-members |title=Elected Members }}
Nikolaos Kylafis Lecturer (2024)[https://www.cretalive.gr/kriti/mia-spoydaia-diakrisi-se-enan-exaireto-epistimona-video]