Lisa Kaltenegger is the Director of the Carl Sagan Institute to Search for Life in the Cosmos at Cornell University, and Associate Professor in Astronomy. She is a pioneer and world-leading expert in modeling potential habitable worlds and their detectable spectral fingerprint. Professor Kaltenegger has served on NSF and NASA committees and is a Science Team Member of NASA's TESS Mission as well as the NIRISS instrument on the James Webb Space Telescope.

Professor Kaltenegger is the recipient of numerous international prizes and awards, including being a European Commission Role Model for Women in Science and Research. She was named one of America's Young Innovators by Smithsonian Magazine, an Innovator to Watch by TIME Magazine, and stars in the IMAX 3D movie "The Search for Life in Space". Asteroid Kaltenegger7734 is named after her.