Saul Perlmutter

Saul Perlmutter (born 1959) is an American astrophysicist renowned for his pioneering work in cosmology, particularly for leading the discovery of the universe's accelerating expansion, which earned him the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Perlmutter was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; his grandparents were Eastern European Jewish immigrants, and he grew up near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in an environment that emphasized creativity and critical thinking through attendance at Quaker schools. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1981 and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986, where his dissertation focused on developing automated software for searching distant supernovae. Following his doctorate, he remained at Berkeley as a postdoctoral researcher and later joined the faculty, where he now serves as the Franklin W. and Karen Weber Dabby Professor of Physics and a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Perlmutter came from a Jewish family heritage, with all four of his grandparents having immigrated as young adults to the United States from Eastern European towns and villages in the early twentieth century. His parents, both university professors, created a culturally engaged household; his mother, Felice Davidson Perlmutter, taught social work and social administration, while his father, Daniel D. Perlmutter, was a professor of chemical engineering. Weekends at home were filled with stimulating discussions among their colleagues and students on topics ranging from politics and the arts to social issues, fostering an environment rich in intellectual exchange.