Steven Michael Kahn

Steven M. Kahn is an experimental astrophysicist and cosmologist. He is Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley. He previously served on the faculty in these departments from 1984-98 and returned to Berkeley in 2022 to take up the position of Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. He was the U.S. Principal Investigator for the Reflection Grating Spectrometer on the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton Observatory, which was launched in December 1999 and is still flying. 

Kahn is a major figure in experimental astrophysics who continues to enable novel explorations of the universe. His initial research in X-ray astronomy produced important observational papers on a wide range of sources using HEAO-1, Einstein, EXOSAT, Chandra, and XMM-Newton observatories. Kahn's observational interests have emphasized X-ray spectroscopy of active galactic nuclei, clusters of galaxies, supernova remnants, and the intergalactic medium. He created a group performing experimental astrophysics measurements and theoretical calculations of the wavelengths, cross sections, and oscillator strengths required by modern X-ray astronomy, and led the team that designed and built the highly successful X-ray reflection grating array on the XMM-Newton Satellite. He was Director of the of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory construction project from its initial phases until assembly on the mountain. Full operations will begin in 2026.

Kahn received his A.B. (summa cum laude) from Columbia in 1975 and his Ph.D. in physics at Berkeley in 1980. In addition to Berkeley, he has served on the faculties of Columbia, where he was the I.I. Rabi Professor of Physics, and at Stanford, where he was the Cassius Lamb Kirk Professor in the Natural Sciences. In addition to his membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, he is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.