At which university did Carl Sagan earn his undergraduate degree?

Carl Sagan earned his undergraduate degrees at the University of Chicago. He attended the university as a teenager, entering at age 16 because its early-admission system accepted exceptionally young students.

Sagan completed a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in 1954 and a Bachelor of Science in physics in 1955. His Chicago education combined science with the humanities, reflecting the university’s emphasis on broad intellectual study. He worked with scientists including geneticist H. J. Muller and physical chemist Harold Urey, and he studied planetary astronomy with Gerard Kuiper.

The University of Chicago was also where Sagan’s interest in the origins of life deepened. He later continued there as a graduate student, earning a master’s degree in physics in 1956 and a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics in 1960. A common mix-up is to associate Sagan’s education with Cornell, but Cornell was the institution where he later built his career and directed the Laboratory for Planetary Studies.