Position/Organization: Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago

Michael S. Turner, Ph.D., is a cosmologist and director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago. He has been a pioneer in applying the physics of elementary particles to studies of the origin and evolution of the universe. His work has focused on inflationary cosmology, the origin of elements in the Big Bang, dark matter and dark energy – a term he coined to described the mysterious force that appears to be causing an acceleration in the universe’s rate of expansion.