Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of America’s best known scientists, an astronomer, author, and public figure who has popularized interest in and the study of science for decades. Widely known for his charisma, humor, and passion to bring the cosmos alive to millions around the globe and his highly-awarded television and radio programs, he is also renowned for his commitment to aiming for the stars while staying grounded in reality, speaking out about the greatest problems facing our nation and our world with a pragmatic, fact-first agenda.
I dream of a world where the truth is what shapes people’s politics, rather than politics shaping what people think is true. - Tyson
Inspired to study space and the stars by a visit to the Hayden Planetarium in New York City when he was twelve years old, Tyson is now the fifth head of that same world-renowned institution, and the first occupant of its Frederick P. Rose Directorship. He is also a research associate of the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History.
In 2001, President Bush appointed Tyson to serve on a twelve-member commission that studied the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry. The final report, published in 2002, contained recommendations for Congress and the major agencies of the government to promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration, and national security.
Three years later, Tyson was again appointed by President Bush to serve on a nine-member commission on the Implementation of the United States Space Exploration Policy, dubbed the “Moon, Mars, and Beyond” commission. The group charted a path to allow a new space vision to become part of the American agenda. In 2006, the head of NASA appointed Tyson to serve on its prestigious Advisory Council, which guides NASA through its perennial need to fit ambitious visions into restricted budgets.
Chuck Nice, Brian Greene,Tyson, Heather Berlin, Sasha Cohen, and Baba Brinkman after a Startalk recording
The Cosmos team accepts the Peabody Award
Through his written publications and his media appearances, Tyson works to bring an understanding and appreciation of the scientific world to the general public. For five seasons, he appeared as the host of PBS NOVA’s spinoff program NOVA ScienceNOW, which offers an accessible look at the science which shapes the understanding of our place in the universe. In 2009, Tyson identified a cadre of professional comedians to aid him in bringing science to commercial radio with the NSF-funded StarTalk. StarTalk combines celebrity guests with informative, playful banter, and is aimed at an audience that never thought they would, or could, like science. Now also a popular podcast, it ran as a limited-run television series on the National Geographic Channel. In its first year on television and in three successive seasons, it was nominated for a Best Informational Programming Emmy. The 2014 series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, presented by Tyson, won a Peabody award in the Education category, and four Emmy Awards.
In addition to dozens of professional publications, Tyson has written, and continues to write for the public. From 1995 to 2005, Tyson was a monthly essayist for Natural History magazine. He has also written fifteen books, including his memoir The Sky is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist. His 2004 book Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, co-written with Donald Goldsmith, is the companion book to the PBS NOVA mini-series Origins, which Tyson also hosted.
Tyson’s other books include: the playful and informative Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries, a New York Times bestseller, The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet, on his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status and the basis for the PBS NOVA documentary The Pluto Files, Astrophysics for People In A Hurry, a domestic and international bestseller that offers an introduction to everything that’s making news in the universe, in one place, succinctly presented for people in a hurry, and the New York Times Bestsellers Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, coauthored with Avis Lang, and Letters from an Astrophysicist.
Tyson is the recipient of twenty-one honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the highest award given by NASA to a non-government citizen. His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union’s official naming of asteroid “13123 Tyson.” And by zoologists’ naming of Indirani Tysoni, a species of leaping frog in India. Tyson was also voted “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive'' by People Magazine in 2000.
Tyson receives an honorary doctorate from Yale University
Tyson was born and raised in New York City where he was educated in the public schools clear through his graduation from the Bronx High School of Science. He went on to earn his BA in Physics from Harvard and his PhD in Astrophysics from Columbia. Tyson lives in New York City with his wife, a former IT project manager with Bloomberg Financial Markets.
In 2021, he was awarded The Common Good American Spirit Award for Public Integrity. He currently serves as a member of The Common Good Honorary Advisory Board.
Selected Media:
Forbes: Provocative New Neil DeGrasse Tyson Book Highlights Little-Known Cosmic Tidbits
Wall Street Journal: Neil deGrasse Tyson on the Pandemic Year: Science Needs Better Marketing
Tyson for the Wall Street Journal: Because of Science
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert: Tyson On Coronavirus: Will People Listen To Science?
Books:
Cosmic Queries: StarTalk's Guide to Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We're Going, 2021
Letters from An Astrophysicist, 2019
Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military, with Avis Lang, 2018
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, 2017
Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour, with Michael A. Strauss and J. Richard Gott, 2016
Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, 2012
The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet, 2009
Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries, 2007
The Sky Is Not the Limit: Adventures of an Urban Astrophysicist, 2004
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution, with Donald Goldsmith, 2004
City of Stars: A New Yorker's Guide to the Cosmos, 2002
Cosmic Horizons: Astronomy at the Cutting Edge, 2000
One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos, 2000
Just Visiting This Planet, 1998
Universe Down to Earth, 1994
Merlin's Tour of the Universe, 1989
