Adam Frederick Falk (born April 19, 1965) became President and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society, on July 1, 2025. In this role, he leads one of the world’s foremost conservation organizations overseeing five iconic zoological parks in New York City (Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the New York Aquarium) and the largest on-the-ground field conservation program in more than 50 countries. A theoretical high-energy physicist, Falk previously served as President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, where he championed initiatives in scientific research, higher education, and public understanding of science and technology. Earlier, he was President of Williams College and Dean of the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, where he was also a professor of physics.

Early life and education

Falk is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He graduated from the

North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is a two-year, public residential high school with two physical campuses located in Durham, North Carolina, and Morganton, North Carolina, that focuses on the intensive study of scie ...

after attending Durham Academy. He received a B.S. from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

in 1987, where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. He received a Ph.D in physics from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1991.

Career

Falk began his career as a post-doctoral researcher working first at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and then at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. In 1994, he joined the physics faculty at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

, becoming a full professor in 2000. In 2006, Falk became the James B. Knapp Dean at the

Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences is the college of arts and sciences at the Johns Hopkins University, a private university in Baltimore, Maryland. The school is based on the university's Homewood campus and, together with the Whiting Sc ...

. From 2010 to 2017, Falk served as the 17th President of Williams College. Since the beginning of 2018, Falk has served as President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Research

Falk is a high-energy physicist whose research focused on elementary particle physics and quantum field theory, particularly in interactions and decay of meson and baryons containing heavy quarks. He is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed papers on these and related topics.

Honors and awards

*Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2002 *Johns Hopkins Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award *Young Investigator Award, NSF *Sloan Research Fellowship *Morehead-Cain Scholar, University of North Carolina

References

External links

Office of the President webpage at Williams
1965 births 21st-century American physicists Fellows of the American Physical Society Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Living people North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics alumni Presidents of Williams College University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni Williams College faculty {{US-physicist-stub