Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator who has dedicated his career to making complex scientific concepts accessible to the public. He studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University before serving as a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University from 1991 to 1994.

Since 1996, Tyson has served as director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City, where he oversaw a ambitious $210 million reconstruction project completed in 2000. As part of his leadership role at the American Museum of Natural History, he founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has maintained his position as a research associate since 2003.

His unique combination of rigorous scientific training and exceptional communication skills has established him as one of America's most recognizable voices in science education and public understanding of astrophysics.