David N. Spergel is president of the Simons Foundation and Charles Young Professor of Astronomy Emeritus at Princeton University. He played a key role in the development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, assisting with designing the coronagraph and defining the mission of the scientific program. Through his pioneering measurements of the age, shape, and composition of the universe, he made significant contributions to the standard model of cosmology. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a legacy fellow of the American Astronomical Society. The recipient of numerous awards for research in astrophysics, he has been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Shaw Prize in Astronomy, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics.
November 2026
David N. Spergel is president of the Simons Foundation and Charles Young Professor of Astronomy Emeritus at Princeton University. He played a key role in the development of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, assisting with designing the coronagraph and defining the mission of the scientific program. Through his pioneering measurements of the age, shape, and composition of the universe, he made significant contributions to the standard model of cosmology. He is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a legacy fellow of the American Astronomical Society. The recipient of numerous awards for research in astrophysics, he has been awarded the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the Shaw Prize in Astronomy, the Gruber Prize in Cosmology, and the Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics.
November 2026