Jeremiah Ostriker

Jeremiah Paul Ostriker, 87, passed away peacefully on April 6, 2025. Jerry, as he was known, was a renowned astrophysicist, famed for his pathbreaking work on the existence of dark matter and dark energy, two unseen elements that permeate and shape the universe. Jerry won the National Medal of Science, the White House Champions of Change award, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, and other prizes. In 1995-2001 he was provost of Princeton University, where he helped lead pioneering initiatives in financial aid that made Princeton more accessible for low-income students and influenced changes throughout higher education. Jerry was previously chair of the Princeton astrophysics department and a professor there for some three decades. Throughout his career at Princeton, Jerry vigorously promoted the careers of women scientists. He later spent a few years as a professor at the University of Cambridge in England before moving back to New York, the city of his birth, to become a Columbia University professor. Jerry authored or coauthored more than 600 scientific publications – he was still active in astronomy into his last days – as well as the book “Heart of Darkness: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Invisible Universe,” among other works. He was treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the American Philosophical Society.

Jerry was known for his exceptionally wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, his mischievous sense of humor, and his spirit of adventure, including a great love of travel and the outdoors. His favorite author by far was Shakespeare, his favorite music ranged from Bach to Joan Baez, and his avid hobbies included photography, in which he was highly accomplished, biking, and playing squash and poker.

The son of Martin Ostriker, who ran a clothing company, and Jeanne (Sumpf) Ostriker, a schoolteacher and political activist, Jerry was born on April 13, 1937, and had a happy childhood growing up on the Upper West Side – a “classic nerd child,” as he would later recall. He first met the love of his life, the celebrated poet and English professor Alicia Suskin Ostriker, as a student at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York. (Jerry’s graduation yearbook, fittingly, had a Robert Frost epigram describing him: “I thought of questions that have no reply.”) Jerry went on to study at Harvard University – where he rode a Vespa to visit Alicia at Brandeis University – as well as the University of Chicago, where he studied under the future Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and after a postdoc year at the University of Cambridge, he went on to enjoy what he later described as “a fortunate half-century” in astronomical discovery.

Jerry deeply cherished his family and friends, who brought him great delight. He is survived by Alicia, his loving wife and fellow adventurer for 66 years; three children, Rebecca Ostriker and her husband Ian MacKinnon, Eve Ostriker and her husband Nat Bottigheimer, and Gabriel Ostriker and his wife Allison Ostriker; three grandchildren, Abigail Ostriker and her husband Bart Machielse, Naomi Ostriker and her fiance Quinton Celuzza, and Rosalind Ostriker; a sister, Naomi Seligman and her husband Ernie Von Simson; two brothers, Jon Ostriker and his wife Linda Ostriker, and David Ostriker and his wife Yelena Ostriker; and several nieces and nephews. They will miss him immeasurably, and treasure his memory.

Memorial plans are underway, and donations may be made in Jerry’s name to the Riverside Park Conservancy in New York.