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Sagan was the David Duncan Professor of Astronomy and Space Sciences and Director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University. He has played a leading role in the Mariner, Viking, and Voyager spacecraft expeditions to the planets, for which he received the NASA Medals for Exceptional Scientific Achievement and (twice) for Distinguished Public Service. Once a research assistant of the Nobel Prize-winning geneticist H. J. Muller, his continuing research on the origin of life began in the 1950s. The Masursky Award from the American Astronomical Society cites "his extraordinary contributions to the development of planetary science... As a scientist trained in both astronomy and biology, Dr. Sagan has made seminal contributions to the study of planetary atmospheres, planetary surfaces, the history of the Earth, and exobiology. Many of the most productive planetary scientists working today are his present and former students and associates."

His book Cosmos (accompanying his Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning television series of the same name) was the best-selling science book ever published in the English language. His novel Contact is soon to be major motion picture (Warner Bros.). Co-founder and President of The Planetary Society, he severs as Distinguished Visiting Scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. Dr. Sagan has received the Pulitzer Prize, the Oersted Medal, and many other awards - including eighteen honorary degrees from American colleges and universities - for his contributions to science, literature, education, and the preservation of the environment.