Noted astronomer Carl Sagan would have turned 90 in 2024. To mark that milestone and honor his legacy, the University and the scientific institute that bears his name hosted a celebration on the Hill in mid-November. (The keynote program can now be watched online.) With those festivities in mind, Cornellians has gathered not quite “billions and billions”—but a plethora—of factoids about the astronomer, who passed away in 1996.
Read on in Cornellians for 14 fascinating facts about Sagan—one of Cornell’s most famous faculty members, and one of the most effective science communicators of all time!
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At center, holding her award, is Abra Geiger ’26, recipient of the 2026 University Relations Campus-Community Leadership Award. Left to right, with her are Erik Herman, creative director of the Free Science Workshop/Ithaca Physics Bus; Kyle Kimball, vice president for university relations; Cassaundra Guzman, McNair Program advisor/coordinator; and Marla Love, Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students.
