Robert Kirshner

Kirshner was born on August 15, 1949. he received his first university level education at Harvard University, graduating in 1970. From there he went on to get a P.h.D in Astronomy at Caltech. He became a postdoc at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, in addition to serving on the faculty at the University of Michigan for nine years. In 1986, he returned to Harvard to become a faculty member in the Astronomy Department. He served as Chairman of the Department from 1990 to 1997. In his time, Kirshner has written and published over 200 research papers, most of which deal with supernovae and the size and shape of the universe.  His most significant discovery was accomplished with the "High-Z Supernova Team". In this discovery the team found concrete evidence for the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. This was deemed so important that it was given the title of "Science Breakthrough of the Year for 1998" by Science Magazine. Several members of the team would be awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2008. This discovery drastically changed how we view the universe, and is considered to be one of the most important astronomical discoveries of the last 20 years. In his later career, Kirshner became the President of the American Astronomical Society from 2004-2008. Over the past six years he has given dozens of important lectures all over the world, and continues to contribute to the Astronomical field of science.