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About Dante
Dante Lauretta is a Regents Professor of Planetary Science and Cosmochemistry at The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, a leading figure in Space Science. He holds a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics and a B.A. in Oriental Studies with an emphasis in Japanese from The University of Arizona, both earned Cum Laude in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 1997. Lauretta began his academic career with postdoctoral research at Arizona State University from 1997 to 1999 and as an Associate Research Scientist there until 2001. He joined The University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory as Assistant Professor in 2001, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006, Professor in 2012, and Regents Professor in 2021. Since 2023, he has served as Director of the Arizona Astrobiology Center. Additionally, he was Principal Investigator of NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission from 2011, overseeing its launch in 2016, sample collection from asteroid Bennu in 2020, and return to Earth in 2023.
Lauretta's research specializes in cosmochemistry and astrobiology, with expertise in near-Earth asteroid formation and evolution, the chemical evolution of the solar system, formation of organic molecules essential for life, asteroids, meteorites, comets, and the origin of the solar system. He has edited or co-edited influential books such as Meteorites and the Early Solar System II (University of Arizona Press, 2006), Protoplanetary Dust: Astrophysical and Cosmochemical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 2010), and authored The Asteroid Hunter (Grand Central Publishing, 2024). Key publications include the seminal paper "Experimental simulations of sulfide formation in the solar nebula" (Science, 1997) and OSIRIS-REx contributions like "Asteroid (101955) Bennu in the laboratory: Properties of the sample collected by OSIRIS-REx" (Meteoritics and Planetary Science, 2024), alongside recent Bennu sample analyses in Nature Astronomy and Nature Geoscience (2025). His leadership in OSIRIS-REx has profoundly impacted planetary science by providing pristine asteroid samples for study. Lauretta has received prestigious honors including the Collier Trophy from the U.S. National Aeronautical Association (2024), Eric and Wendy Schmidt Explorers Club Visionary Award (2024), Alfred O. Nier Prize from the Meteoritical Society (2002), and election as Fellow of the Meteoritical Society (2014).
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