Neil deGrasse Tyson

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author and science communicator. He is best known for his work in popularising science and hosting television series such as Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.

Born in Manhattan, Neil deGrasse Tyson grew up in the Bronx. At the age of nine, he visited the Hayden Planetarium and became interested in astronomy.

He recalled, "The impression was so strong that I had no choice. The universe was calling me. He attended public schools in the Bronx and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1976, where he was captain of the wrestling team and editor-in-chief of the Physical Science Journal.

Tyson studied physics at Harvard University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1980. He then pursued graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Master of Arts degree in astronomy in 1983. His doctoral research took him to Columbia University, where he received a Ph.D. in astrophysics in 1991.

During this time, he observed supernovae at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile and collaborated with astronomers at Princeton University.

In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist. Two years later, he became its director, overseeing a $210 million rebuild completed in 2000. Under his leadership, the planetarium was redesigned to reflect the nature of the universe better. He also founded the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History in 1997 and became a research associate there in 2003.

Between 1995 and 2005, Tyson wrote essays for the "Universe" section of Natural History magazine. These essays were later published in Death by Black Hole (2007) and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (2017).

He also wrote a column called "Merlin" for StarDate magazine, answering astronomical questions. His books Merlin's Tour of the Universe (1998) and Just Visiting This Planet (1998) were published based on this material.

Tyson has advised government agencies on space policy, serving on commissions such as the 2001 U.S. Aerospace Industry Commission and the 2004 Moon, Mars, and Beyond Commission. He received the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2004. He hosted NOVA ScienceNow on PBS from 2006 to 2011. He later hosted StarTalk, a science podcast launched in 2009, and a television spin-off on National Geographic in 2015.

In 2014, Tyson presented Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, a sequel to Carl Sagan's 1980 series Cosmos: A Personal Journey. The series introduced complex scientific concepts to a broad audience and received critical acclaim. In 2015, the US National Academy of Sciences awarded him the Public Welfare Medal in recognition of his efforts in science communication.

Neil deGrasse Tyson continues to write and speak about astrophysics, space exploration, and science education. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.