Adam G. Riess

Adam G. Riess is an American astrophysicist renowned for his pivotal contributions to the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe. His work, conducted with the High-z Supernova Search Team and independently by the Supernova Cosmology Project, provided key evidence for the existence of dark energy. For this groundbreaking discovery, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011, sharing the honor with Saul Perlmutter and Brian P. Schmidt. Riess is a professor at Johns Hopkins University and a senior member of the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Early life and education

Adam Guy Riess was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Warren Township, New Jersey. He developed an early interest in science, influenced by his father's work in the frozen food industry and his mother's career in psychology. Riess attended Watchung Hills Regional High School before enrolling at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1992. He then pursued graduate studies in astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley, completing his Master's degree. Riess earned his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Harvard University in 1996 under the supervision of renowned astronomer Robert Kirshner.

Career and research

Following his doctorate, Riess was awarded a prestigious Miller Research Fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley. He subsequently joined the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland as an astronomer. In 1998, while working with the High-z Supernova Search Team led by Brian P. Schmidt, Riess led the critical analysis of observations of distant Type Ia supernovae. The team's findings, published in the Astronomical Journal, demonstrated that the universe's expansion is accelerating, a revelation that shocked the cosmology community. This work independently confirmed results from the Supernova Cosmology Project led by Saul Perlmutter. Riess's ongoing research focuses on refining measurements of the Hubble constant using various cosmic distance ladders, including observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope, which have revealed a persistent tension with predictions from the Planck mission's observations of the cosmic microwave background.

Honors and awards

Riess has received numerous accolades for his transformative contributions to cosmology. In 2006, he was a co-recipient of the Shaw Prize in Astronomy. The pinnacle of recognition came in 2011 when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Perlmutter and Schmidt. Other major honors include the Albert Einstein Medal in 2011, the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2015, and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2020, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

Personal life

Adam Riess is married to Nancy Joy Riess, and the couple has two children. He maintains a residence in Baltimore near his work at Johns Hopkins University. An avid runner, Riess has participated in several marathons. He is also known for his commitment to public science education, frequently giving lectures and participating in outreach events to explain complex cosmological concepts like dark energy and the expansion of the universe to general audiences.

Selected publications

* Riess, A.G., et al. (1998). "Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant." *The Astronomical Journal*. * Riess, A.G., et al. (2011). "A 3% Solution: Determination of the Hubble Constant with the Hubble Space Telescope and Wide Field Camera 3." *The Astrophysical Journal*. * Riess, A.G., et al. (2016). "A 2.4% Determination of the Local Value of the Hubble Constant." *The Astrophysical Journal*. * Riess, A.G., et al. (2019). "Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid Standards Provide a 1% Foundation for the Determination of the Hubble Constant and Stronger Evidence for Physics Beyond ΛCDM." *The Astrophysical Journal*. * Riess, A.G. (2020). "The Expansion of the Universe is Faster than Expected." *Nature Reviews Physics*.

Category:American astrophysicists Category:Nobel laureates in Physics Category:Johns Hopkins University faculty