doctoral_advisor death_date image_size field work_institutions birth_date doctoral_students prizes image article_title name alma_mater
h. richard crane 5 september 2002 160px cosmology princeton university 13 may 1935 marc davis lawrence rudnick peter r. saulson peter timbie james craig watson medal -lrb- 2001 -rrb- david todd wilkinson.jpg david todd wilkinson
 david todd wilkinson university of michigan
david todd wilkinson

david todd wilkinson -lrb- 13 may 1935 -- 5 september 2002 -rrb- was a world-renowned pioneer in the field of cosmology , specializing in the study of the cosmic microwave background radiation -lrb- cmb -rrb- left over from the big bang .
he was born in hillsdale , michigan , and earned his ph.d. in physics at the university of michigan under the supervision of h. richard crane .
he was a professor of physics at princeton university from 1965 until his retirement in 2002 .
he made fundamental contributions to many major cmb experiments , including two nasa satellites , the cosmic background explorer -lrb- cobe -rrb- and the wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe -lrb- wmap -rrb- , which was named in his honor after his death due to cancer .
his numerous accolades include the princeton president 's award for distinguished teaching , election to the national academy of sciences in 1983 , and the james craig watson medal -lrb- 2001 -rrb- .
