Dr. Katherine Freese is the George E. Uhlenbeck Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan, and the Associate Director of the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics. She works on a wide range of topics in theoretical cosmology and astroparticle physics. She has been working to identify the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the universe as well as to build a successful model for the early universe immediately after the Big Bang.

Dr. Freese has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate (honoris cause) from the University of Stockholm in September 2012. She is a Fellow of the American Physical Society. She was awarded a Simons Foundation Fellowship in Theoretical Physics in 2012. Her work has been described in the New York Times, Scientific American, New Scientist, National Public Radio, BBC, Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, and other popular media.