Alexei V. Filippenko

Alexei V. Filippenko is a Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in supernovae, gamma-ray bursts, dark energy, and black holes. With over 1,120 research papers, he has received major awards including the Gruber Cosmology Prize (2007), Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015), and the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award (2017). A highly cited astronomer and elected member of the National Academy of Sciences (2009) and American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015), he is renowned for his teaching excellence, having won UC Berkeley’s most prestigious teaching awards and being named the campus’s "Best Professor" nine times.

• BA in Physics (1979) from University of California, Santa Barbara
• PhD in Astronomy (1984) from California Institute of Technology
• Miller Fellow for Basic Research in Science (1984–86) at UC Berkeley

His research focuses on determining the progenitors and explosion mechanisms of supernovae, using them as cosmological distance indicators to study the accelerating expansion of the Universe ("dark energy"), and identifying black holes in X-ray binaries and galactic nuclei. He developed the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), which discovered over 1,000 supernovae.

Scientific Awards:

• Gruber Cosmology Prize (2007)
• Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2015)
• Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award (2017)
• Carnegie/CASE National Professor of the Year (2006)
• Richard H. Emmons Award (2010)
• AAS Education Prize (2022)
• National Academy of Sciences member (2009)
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences member (2015)
• American Astronomical Society (AAS) Fellow (2021)

A prolific science communicator, he has given over 1,000 public lectures, coauthored an award-winning textbook, and appeared in 120+ TV documentaries. His hobbies include tennis, running, hiking, skiing, and eclipse chasing.