Steven E. Koonin

The prize citation for Dr. Koonin’s 2023 Barry Prize reads:

In a career spanning the academy, business and government, Steven Koonin has mobilized an extensive knowledge of theoretical physics across nuclear astrophysics, theoretical nuclear physics, computational and many-body physics to build solutions to real-world problems. With passions ranging from human flourishing in New York City to the natural environment of our globe, he has fearlessly championed the integrity and independence of natural science that are so crucial to its intellectual and practical success. The Academy honors Dr. Koonin’s distinguished contributions to humanity’s cultivation of scientific progress for the improvement of our world.

Steven E. Koonin, a university professor at NYU, has served as the Department of Energy’s under secretary for science, as chief scientist for BP, and as professor and provost at Caltech. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a governor of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and a trustee of the Institute for Defense Analyses. Koonin holds a BS in physics from Caltech and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from MIT. He wrote the recent bestseller Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.

November 2023