Nergis Mavalvala (born 1968) is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist known for her role in the first observation of gravitational waves.[1] She is the Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is also the Dean of the university's School of Science. She was previously the Associate Head of the university's Department of Physics[2] She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010.[3][4][5]