Paul Torrey is a computational astrophysicist with a research focus on the formation and evolution of our cosmos. Torrey’s research group builds, runs and analyzes large scale cosmological simulations that allow us to probe how assumptions about our Universe, such as the nature of Dark Matter, impact what astronomers observe in the night sky through instruments such as the James Webb Space Telescope.

Prior to joining the College faculty, Torrey obtained his bachelor’s in applied physics from Cornell and his Ph.D. in astrophysics from Harvard. Torrey also conducted postdoctoral research at MIT and Caltech, including 2 years as a NASA Hubble Fellow, and he spent five years on the faculty of the University of Florida.

As a faculty member at UVA, Torrey will teach classes ranging from introductory astronomy to graduate-level astrophysics.