David Spergel

David Nathaniel Spergel (born March 25, 1961), is an American theoretical astrophysicist and Princeton University professor known for his work on the WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe) mission. Spergel is a MacArthur Fellow. He is a member of the NASA Advisory Council and is chair of the Space Studies Board. He was once the W.M. Keck distinguished visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He was part of the team that originated the WMAP mission and designed the spacecraft, and has worked on deciphering the data that it beams back from space. Spergel is playing a leading role in developing the WFIRST(Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope), a multi-billion dollar space mission planned for launch in the mid-2020s. Spergel is the Charles A Young Professor of Astronomy and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Spergel is the Founding Director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics. He shared the 2010 Shaw Prize in astronomy with Charles L. Bennett and Lyman Alexander Page, Jr. for their work on WMAP. He shared the 2015 Dannie Heineman Prize with Marc Kamionkowski "for their outstanding contributions to the investigation of the fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background that have led to major breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe".

Spergel was born in Rochester, New York, and attended John Glenn High School in Huntington, New York. He obtained a Bachelor's degree in Astronomy (summa cum laude) from Princeton University in 1982, and was a visiting scholar at Oxford University in 1983. He obtained his master's degree (Astronomy) at Harvard University, 1984, and his doctorate (Astronomy), Harvard University, 1985, with a thesis entitled Astrophysical Implications of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles.

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