Adam Falk

Falk is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He graduated from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics after attending Durham Academy. He received a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987, where he was a Morehead-Cain Scholar. He received a Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University in 1991.

Falk began his career as a post-doctoral researcher working first at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and then at the University of California, San Diego. In 1994, he joined the physics faculty at Johns Hopkins University, becoming a full professor in 2000.

In 2006, Falk became the James B. Knapp Dean at the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

From 2010 to 2017, Falk served as the 17th President of Williams College.

From the beginning of 2018 until June, 2025 Falk served as president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. As of July, 2025, he is the president and CEO of the Wildlife Conservation Society.