Amber Dawn Miller is an American experimental cosmologist. She was a professor of physics and astronomy at the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
and the dean of the
Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. She is an
American Physical Society Fellow.
Education
Miller received her
B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in physics and astrophysics from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
in 1995 and her
PhD
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in physics from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
in 2000.
As a postdoctoral scholar, she completed a
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...
Hubble Fellowship at the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
.
Research and career
Miller has published nearly 200 articles and journal entries related to the field of early universe cosmology, as well as a number of articles on
atmospheric science
Atmospheric science is the study of the Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere and its various inner-working physical processes. Meteorology includes atmospheric chemistry and atmospheric physics with a major focus on weather forecasting. Clima ...
. Her PhD thesis work provided some of the first observational evidence of the first peak in the power spectrum of the
cosmic microwave background
The cosmic microwave background (CMB, CMBR), or relic radiation, is microwave radiation that fills all space in the observable universe. With a standard optical telescope, the background space between stars and galaxies is almost completely dar ...
(CMB), from the
MAT/TOCO experiment, suggesting that the geometry of the universe is flat.
In 2002, she was appointed to the faculty of
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
and served as the first dean of science for the University's faculty of arts and sciences from 2011–16.
Since September 2024, she has been the president of the
Hewlett Foundation
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, commonly known as the Hewlett Foundation, is a private foundation, established by Hewlett-Packard cofounder William Redington Hewlett and his wife Flora Lamson Hewlett in 1966. The Hewlett Foundation awa ...
.
Awards and honors
Miller's awards include a
National Science Foundation CAREER Award
The National Science Foundation CAREER award is the most prestigious award presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States Federal Government to support junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through rese ...
, an
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and a Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award. She was elected as a Fellow of the
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...
in 2014 "for important contributions to observations of the cosmic microwave background and development of innovative instrumentation for millimeter-wave cosmology."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Amber D.
American cosmologists
American women physicists
21st-century American physicists
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Fellows of the American Physical Society
American university and college faculty deans
Women deans (academic)
21st-century American women scientists
Hewlett Foundation