Adam Riess
An astrophysicist whose observations of dying stars revealed a universe expanding at an ever-increasing, mysterious pace.
Born 1969 (age 57)·American astrophysicist·Birthday: December 16·Generation X
Biography
Adam Riess looks into the deep past, using the faint light of exploding stars as cosmic mile markers. His work in the late 1990s, as part of competing teams racing to measure the universe's expansion, led to a shock: distant supernovae were fainter than expected, meaning the cosmos wasn't just growing, it was accelerating. This discovery of dark energy—the unknown force causing this acceleration—upended cosmology and earned him a Nobel Prize at the age of 41. Based at Johns Hopkins and the Space Telescope Science Institute, Riess continues to refine these measurements with relentless precision, using the Hubble and now the James Webb Space Telescopes to pin down the universe's expansion rate, a number that holds the key to its ultimate fate. He operates in the tense space between data and theory, where a single decimal point can challenge our fundamental understanding of physics.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Adam was born in 1969, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Adam Was Born
The biggest hits of 1969
#1 Movie
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Best Picture
Midnight Cowboy
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Adam's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1969Born
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1974Started school
Nixon resigns the presidency
Gas: $0.53/galHome: $22,600Min wage: $2.00/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"The Way We Were" — Barbra StreisandBest Picture: The Godfather Part II
1982Became a teenager
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Could drive
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1987Could vote
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1990Turned 21
Hubble Space Telescope launched; Germany reunifies
Gas: $1.15/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.80/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Hold On" — Wilson PhillipsBest Picture: Dances with Wolves
1999Turned 30
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2009Turned 40
Michael Jackson dies; Bitcoin created
Gas: $2.35/galHome: $148,500Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Boom Boom Pow" — The Black Eyed PeasBest Picture: The Hurt Locker
2019Turned 50
First image of a black hole; Hong Kong protests
Gas: $2.60/galHome: $224,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Old Town Road" — Lil Nas XBest Picture: Parasite
2026Age 57 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe.
- Shared the 2006 Shaw Prize in Astronomy for the same groundbreaking cosmological work.
- Holds the position of Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Did You Know?
He was only 41 years old when he won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
His father was a former owner of a frozen yogurt franchise chain in New Jersey.
He is an avid fan of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.
“The universe is made mostly of dark matter and dark energy, and we don’t know what either of them is.”
