Avi Loeb

Avi Loeb is the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. He is the Former Chair (2011-2020) of the Department of Astronomy; Founding Director of Harvard's Black Hole Initiative; and a Former Director of the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC), (2007-2026).

He also chairs the Advisory Committee for the Breakthrough Starshot Initiative, serves as the Science Theory Director for all Initiatives of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, and holds the Sackler Senior Professorship by Special Appointment at Tel Aviv University. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Physical Society, and the International Academy of Astronautics, as well as Vice Chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. Within Harvard, Loeb serves on the President's Task Force on Diversity and Belonging, the Provost's Allston Academic Planning Committee, and the FAS Dean's Faculty Resources Advisory Committee.