Paul L. Schechter (born May 30, 1948) is an American

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

and observational

cosmologist Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wor ...

. He is the William A. M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics, Emeritus, at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. Schechter received his bachelor's degree from

Cornell Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since ...

in 1968, and his Ph.D. degree from

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

in 1975. He held postdoctoral positions at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

and the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, then went to

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

as an assistant professor. He moved to his present position at MIT in 1988. Schechter was elected to the U.S.

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

in 2003. Schechter is known for his work establishing what is now known as the Schechter luminosity function for galaxies, and for work with William Press on what is now termed the

Press–Schechter formalism The Press–Schechter formalism is a mathematical model for predicting the number of objects (such as galaxies, galaxy clusters or dark matter halos) of a certain mass within a given volume of the Universe. It was described in an academic paper by ...

. He also developed accurate methods for measuring velocity dispersions of galaxies, analyzed the Virgocentric infall, and performed precise analyses of

gravitational lens A gravitational lens is matter, such as a galaxy cluster, cluster of galaxies or a point particle, that bends light from a distant source as it travels toward an observer. The amount of gravitational lensing is described by Albert Einstein's Ge ...

es.U.S. National Academy of Sciences election citation at

References

Living people Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences 1948 births 20th-century American Jews California Institute of Technology alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science faculty Cornell University alumni Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars University of Arizona people Harvard University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 21st-century American Jews {{US-astronomer-stub