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Robert A. Simcoe
Born1975 (1975)
Westborough, Massachusetts, U.S.
SpousePatricia Udomprasert
Academic background
EducationPrinceton University (AB)
California Institute of Technology (PhD)
ThesisObservations of intergalactic heavy element enrichment in the early universe (2003)
Academic work
InstitutionsMassachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT Kavli Institute
Main interests
Websitehttps://physics.mit.edu/faculty/robert-simcoe/

Robert Andrew Simcoe (born 1975) is an American astrophysicist.[1] He is Francis L. Friedman professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and director of the MIT Kavli Institute since 2019.[2]

Early life and education

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He was born in Westborough, Massachusetts in 1975. His father, Robert J. Simcoe, is an astronomer. He developed an interest in astronomy as a child and began to build telescopes in his first year of middle school after visiting the Stellafane Observatory.[3] Simcoe attended Princeton University, where he studied astrophysics and completed a senior thesis on under Edwin L. Turner, graduating in 1997. Simcoe completed his doctorate at Caltech, where he studied heavy metal enrichment in the early universe under Wallace L. W. Sargent in 2003.

Career

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After graduating, Simcoe joined MIT as a Pappalardo postdoctoral researcher under Paul L. Schechter until 2006, when he was appointed a professor of physics. He was awarded tenure in 2011 and became Francis L. Friedman professor in 2014. Since 2019, he is director of the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

His research focuses on star formation, quasars, and galaxy formation and evolution in the early universe, and he has published widely in scientific journals.[4][5] Simcoe built the folded-port infrared Echelette (FIRE) spectrometer for the Magellan Telescopes in Chile to identify and research supermassive black holes.[6] His instrument development programs have received $10 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), including the Large Lenslet Array Magellan Spectrograph (LLAMAS) at the MIT Kavli Institute.[7]

Notable past students include Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi.

Personal life

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Simcoe is married to Pat Udomprasert, a project director at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The couple attended Princeton and Caltech together and have two children.[8]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ "Robert Simcoe — Author at American Scientist". American Scientist. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  2. ^ "Robert Simcoe". MIT Kavli Institute. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  3. ^ "Personal | Robert Simcoe". Simcoe MIT. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  4. ^ Chu, Jennifer; Technology, Massachusetts Institute of (June 14, 2024). "Ancient "Monster" Black Holes Revealed: MIT Astronomers Capture Elusive Starlight From Early Quasars". SciTechDaily. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  5. ^ Nicholas, Lyndon (May 11, 2023). "MIT Researchers Witness The Earth's Final Terrifying Fate". Giant Freakin Robot. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  6. ^ Chu, Jennifer (February 21, 2018). "A Supermassive Black Hole That "Shouldn't Exist"". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  7. ^ "Robert Simcoe". Kavli Foundation. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  8. ^ "Prof. Rob Simcoe (Faculty Lead) – Astronomical Instrumentation Team at MIT". ait.mit.edu. Astronomical Instrumentation Team at MIT. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  9. ^ "Robert A. Simcoe". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Harvard University. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
  10. ^ Heatley, Kim (September 16, 2024). "Robert Simcoe, Director of the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, to receive 2024 Muhlmann Award". MIT Physics. Retrieved December 18, 2025.