Scott Tremaine
RICHARD BLACK PROFESSOR 
SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES

Scott Tremaine is a specialist in astrophysical dynamics, including the formation and evolution of planetary systems, comets, black holes, star clusters, galaxies and galaxy systems. His research focuses on understanding the dynamics of astrophysical systems on a broad range of scales, from comets to clusters of galaxies.  His major contributions include: the prediction of the Kuiper belt of comets beyond Neptune; the prediction, with Institute Professor Peter Goldreich, of shepherd satellites and density waves in Saturn's ring system, and the phenomenon of planetary migration; investigations of the evolution of the solar system and other planetary systems over very long times; methods for measuring the rotation speed of barred spiral galaxies and the phase-space distribution of the stars in elliptical galaxies; the interpretation of double nuclei of galaxies such as the nearby Andromeda galaxy as eccentric stellar disks; and elucidation of the role of dynamical friction in galaxy evolution.

Ph.D., Princeton University, 1975; Long-Term Member, Institute for Advanced Study, 1978-81; Associate Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1981-85; Director, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 1985-96; Chair, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 1998-2006; Professor, Institute for Advanced Study, 2007-; Fellow, Royal Societies of London and Canada; Member, National Academy of Sciences; Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics, 1997.