Simon P. Worden

Simon Peter “Pete” Worden was born in 1949 in Michigan, USA. He received the B.Sc. degree in physics and astronomy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA and the Ph.D. degree in astronomy for the University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA. He is the Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and Executive Director of the foundation’s “Breakthrough Initiatives.” Prior to joining the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, he was Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, CA, USA, until his retirement on March 31, 2015. He has held several positions in the U.S. Air Force and was Research Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He is a recognized expert on space and science issues, both civil and military, and has been a leader in building partnerships between governments and the private sector internationally. He has authored or coauthored more than 150 scientific papers in astrophysics space sciences, and strategic studies. He served as a scientific coinvestigator for three NASA space science missions, most recently the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph launched in 2013 to study the Sun. Dr. Worden received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal for the 1994 Clementine Mission to the moon. He was named the 2009 Federal Laboratory Consortium Laboratory Director of the Year and is the recipient of the 2010 Arthur C. Clarke Innovator’s Award. On July 20, 2015 at the Royal Society in London, U.K., Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking launched the Breakthrough Initiatives. At the press conference, Dr. Worden was introduced as the Chairman for the Breakthrough Prize Foundation. In this capacity he leads the Breakthrough Initiatives. On April 12, 2016 in the One World Observatory in New York, NY, USA, Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking announced the Breakthrough StarShot Initiative to develop and launch Earth’s first interstellar probe within a generation. Dr. Worden leads this Initiative as its Executive Director.