# Arno Allan Penzias

_German-born American physicist_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/arno-allan-penzias
Last updated: 2026-10-30

> Arno Allan Penzias was an American physicist and radio astronomer. He shared the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics with Robert Woodrow Wilson "for their discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation".

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 26 April 1933 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Munich ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P19))
- **Died:** 22 January 2024 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P570))
- **Place of death:** San Francisco ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P20))
- **Citizenship:** Germany; statelessness ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P27))
- **Occupation:** astronomer; physicist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P106))
- **Education:** Columbia University; City College of New York; Brooklyn Technical High School ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P69))
- **Awards:** Nobel Prize in Physics; Harold Pender Award; Henry Draper Medal; Herschel Medal; Fellow of the American Physical Society; IRI Medal; Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; George E. Pake Prize; Karl G. Jansky Lectureship; honorary doctorate of Paris Observatory, PSL University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877#P166))

## Questions

**When was Arno Allan Penzias born?**  
Arno Allan Penzias was born on 26 April 1933 in Munich.

**Where did Arno Allan Penzias study?**  
Arno Allan Penzias was educated at Columbia University, City College of New York, Brooklyn Technical High School.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Arno Allan Penzias](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arno_Allan_Penzias) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q172877](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q172877) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: 32. Tagung 1982 Physiker; Beim Studentenabend Arno A. Penzias - W134Nr.119142 - Willy Pragher (cropped).jpg by Willy Pragher (CC BY 3.0 de)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:32._Tagung_1982_Physiker;_Beim_Studentenabend_Arno_A._Penzias_-_W134Nr.119142_-_Willy_Pragher_(cropped).jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Arno Allan Penzias, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: 32. Tagung 1982 Physiker; Beim Studentenabend Arno A. Penzias - W134Nr.119142 - Willy Pragher (cropped).jpg — Willy Pragher, CC BY 3.0 de.

## Cite this page

"Arno Allan Penzias". DigiNepal. Last updated 30 October 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/arno-allan-penzias. Retrieved 7 November 2026.