Rainer Weiss Weiss in December 2006 Born (1932-09-29) September 29, 1932 Berlin, Germany Citizenship United States Alma mater MIT Known for Pioneering laser interferometric gravitational wave observation. Awards Einstein Prize (2007) by American Physical Society Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) Gruber Prize in Cosmology (2016) Shaw Prize (2016) Kavli Prize (2016) Harvey Prize (2016) Princess of Asturias Award (2017) Nobel Prize in Physics (2017) Scientific career Fields Physics, Laser physics, Experimental Gravitation, Cosmic Background Measurements Institutions MIT Thesis Stark Effect and Hyperfine Structure of Hydrogen Fluoride (1962) Doctoral advisor Jerrold R. Zacharias Doctoral students Shaoul Ezekiel, Nelson Christensen, Peter Fritschel, Michelle Stephens, Joseph Kovalik, Joseph Giaime, Nergis Mavalvala, Partha Saha, Brett Bochner, Brian Lantz, Julien Sylvestre, Ryan Lawrence, Rana Adhikari Other notable students Bruce Allen