Neil deGrasse Tyson is a smart person who knows a lot about space. He was born on October 5, 1958, in Manhattan, New York. Neil studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University.
He worked at Princeton University from 1991 to 1994. Then, in 1994, he started working at the Hayden Planetarium. He became the director of the planetarium in 1996 and helped rebuild it. Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City.
Neil has done many things. He wrote essays for magazines, hosted TV shows, and even got a medal from NASA. He’s also been involved in important space commissions.
Neil grew up in the Bronx and went to public schools there. He liked space from a young age and visited the Hayden Planetarium when he was nine. He got a scholarship to see a solar eclipse when he was 14. He loved astronomy and gave talks about it when he was just 15!
He went to Harvard for college and studied physics. Then, he went to the University of Texas for more school. But he didn’t finish his Ph.D. He became a science communicator and worked at different places like the University of Maryland and Princeton University.
Neil has written books about space and even had a radio talk show. He’s been on TV shows and hosted the reboot of Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” series. He also got involved in debates about whether Pluto is a planet or not.
In his personal life, Neil lives in Manhattan with his wife, Alice, and their two children, Miranda and Travis. He likes wine and has a collection featured in magazines.