David Todd Wilkinson (13 May 1935 – 5 September 2002) was an American

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher ...

, specializing in the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation ( CMB) left over from the Big Bang.

Education

He was born in

Hillsdale, Michigan Hillsdale is the largest city and county seat of Hillsdale County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,036 at the 2020 census. The city is the home of Hillsdale College, a private liberal arts college noted for its academics ...

, and earned his Ph.D. in physics at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

under the supervision of H. Richard Crane.

Research and Career

He was a Professor of Physics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

from 1965 until his retirement in 2002. He made fundamental contributions to many major cosmic microwave background experiments, including two

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

satellites: the Cosmic Background Explorer ( COBE) and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (

WMAP The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), originally known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP and Explorer 80), was a NASA spacecraft operating from 2001 to 2010 which measured temperature differences across the sky in the cosmic mic ...

), which was named in his honor after his death due to cancer.

Awards

His numerous accolades include the Princeton President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, election to the National Academy of Sciences in 1983, and the

James Craig Watson Medal 400px, James Craig Watson Medal The James Craig Watson Medal was established by the bequest of James Craig Watson, an astronomer the University of Michigan between 1863 and 1879, and is awarded every 1-4 years by the U.S. National Academy of Scien ...

(2001).

References

External Links

John Mather and P. James E. Peebles, "David Todd Wilkinson", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2009)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, David 1935 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American astronomers American cosmologists Princeton University faculty Deaths from cancer in New Jersey Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Hillsdale, Michigan University of Michigan alumni