The Elwood School District inducted Dr. David Spergel, a graduate from Elwood-John H. Glenn High School’s Class of 1978, into the Elwood Wall of Fame, recognizing his remarkable career and accomplishments in the field of theoretical astrophysics. The Class of 2024 induction ceremony was held on Oct. 19 at the Elwood Middle School auditorium during the district’s homecoming festivities. Established in 2018, Elwood’s Wall of Fame serves to recognize individuals who have made impactful contributions to the school community.
Dr. Spergel received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1982, graduating summa cum laude, then studied as a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford in 1983. He received his doctorate in 1985 from Harvard University, where he served for two years as a member of the Institute for Advanced Studies. He joined the Princeton astrophysics faculty in 1987, where he was also an associate faculty member in the department of physics and mechanical and aerospace engineering. Dr. Spergel served as associate chair from 1999 to 2006, and as department chair from 2006 to 2016. During his term, the department was consistently ranked No. 1 by both NASA and U.S. News and World Report. He retired from Princeton University in 2019, and has remained as emeritus professor since.
Dr. Spergel was the Keck Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study from 2000 to 2001, and in 2007, he was appointed the Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation at Princeton. He joined the Flatiron Institute in 2016, where was the founding director of the Center for Computational Astrophysics. Currently, he is a member of the Simons Observatory and president of the Simons Foundation, and chairs the Science Definition Team of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. He has sat on the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institution for Science since 2022, and is also a board member of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Spergel was a member of the NASA Advisory Committee and chair of the NAS Space Studies Board and in 2022, he was invited to lead NASA’s UAP independent study team to provide guidance in better understanding “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
Dr. Spergel currently serves as co-chair of Global Coordination of Ground and Space Astrophysics Working Group of the International Astronomical Union as well as the WFIRST science team. He has played a significant role in the design of the coronagraph and is shaping the overall mission of the latter group, which will study the nature of dark energy, complete the demographic survey of extrasolar planets, characterize the atmospheres of nearby planets and survey the universe with more than 100x the field of view of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Dr. Spergel’s numerous awards and accolades include the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (1988), NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1988), Helen B. Warner Prize for Astronomy (1994), John T. and Helen D. MacArthur Fellowship (2001), Citation Laureate (2010), Shaw Prize in Astronomy (2010), Gruber Prize (2012), President's Distinguished Teaching Award (2013), Dannie Heineman Prize in Astrophysics (2015), NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal (2017 and 2022) and Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2018). “Time” magazine named him one “One of America’s Top Scientists” in 2001 and one of the “25 Most Influential People in Space” in 2013, and “Nature” included him in “Ten People Who Mattered in 2014.” He was named a member of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe Project Consortium (1994), National Academy of Sciences (2008), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2012) and American Philosophical Society (2022), and was honored as a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (2020) and a Nikolaos Kylafis Lecturer (2024). He has been the primary mentor for over 31 graduate students, 40 postdoctoral fellows and 60 undergraduates, and is the author of over 400 papers with over 115,000 citations.
Dr. Spergel’s induction was presented by Superintendent Dr. Gayle Steele, Board of Education President James Tomeo and a special guest, New York State Assemblyman Keith Brown.
“I want to congratulate Dr. Spergel and his amazing accomplishments,” Assemblyman Keith Brown said. “Looking at what he has done and thinking about the late Sen. John Glenn, who was an amazing leader in our country, a former Marine, former senator, a Mercury astronaut and the oldest person to ever fly in space, it’s appropriate to make that connection with Dr. Spergel. It is wonderful for him to come back and be a member of the Wall of Honor, especially here at John Glenn High School.”
“On behalf of the Board of Education and the Elwood School District, congratulations on your induction to our Wall of Fame,” Tomeo told Dr. Spergel. “To say you are a distinguished member of the Elwood family would be a huge understatement.”
“It is a real pleasure and honor to come back here to receive this award,” Dr. Spergel said. “I’ve had the good fortune to get a number of awards over the years, but this one is special. John Glenn was a place that helped shape my education. It’s a place where I learned a lot. It’s a place where I had a good time. I have many friends that I made at John Glenn that I’m still in contact with. It’s great to come back and see the school continue to flourish, to see it continue to be a place that educates and inspires young people. I hope my inclusion on the Wall of Fame will help inspire future John Glenn graduates to pursue careers in science. There are many opportunities here. Huntington has the good fortune to be a place where there’s a lot of wonderful science going on, and I hope that future John Glenn graduates continue to pursue those opportunities. Thank you for all you’re doing now to make this a terrific place for the next generation.”
Date Added: 10/24/2024